PROVO — A new exhibition at the BYU Museum of Art celebrates the work of a noted Utah artist who, despite his distinguished career, saw himself as an outsider to the rarefied world of art galleries.
"He considered himself to be a worker," Ashlee Whitaker, head curator at the Museum of Art, said of sculptor and painter Mahonri Young. "Growing up in a pioneer home, life wasn't necessarily easy. … He was among this culture of pioneer work ethic."
"In the Arena: The Art of Mahonri Young" highlights Young's work ethic as well as his respect for ordinary, hardworking people through his sculptures, painting and drawings. The exhibit will be on display through Sept. 21.
Born in 1877 — just weeks before his famous grandfather, Brigham Young, passed away — Mahonri Young grew up in the Salt Lake Valley. He discovered a love for art at age 5 when his father gave him some clay to play with as he recovered from appendicitis, according to the Ensign article "Mahonri Young: Sculptor of His Heritage."
Young had his first formal art training under James T. Harwood, a Utah artist who was among the first from Utah to study art in Paris. Young worked as a portrait artist for the Salt Lake Tribune and the Salt Lake Herald to earn money to study in New York and Paris.
His whole life, Young worked hard. At the Art Students' League in New York City, Young was one of the top students in his class, and while studying in Paris he sketched constantly, always seeking to improve his craft.
"He was pretty tireless in pursuing his art," Whitaker said. "His friends and family talked about how everywhere he went, he was drawing what he saw, gathering new ideas for artwork and always pushing himself to improve his art."
Young gained prestige in New York City, winning prizes for his bronze sculptures of laborers and securing an important commission from the American Museum of Natural History, according to the Ensign article.
He was pretty tireless in pursuing his art. His friends and family talked about how everywhere he went, he was drawing what he saw, gathering new ideas for artwork and always pushing himself to improve his art.
He went on to sculpt several commissions for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, including the "Seagull Monument" on Temple Square and the "This Is the Place Monument" at the mouth of Emigration Canyon. Young also completed commissions in Paris, New York and Hollywood over the course of his career.
For the MOA exhibition, Whitaker worked hard to encapsulate Young's varied career. The gallery features Young's sculptures, of course, but Young was also a skilled painter, and many of his paintings and oil pastel pieces are displayed, as well. The exhibition even spotlights some of Young's sketches, both studies he did to prepare for sculptures and some just for practice.
"We have thousands of pieces by Mahonri in our collection. Some of them are tiny sketches on scraps of paper," Whitaker said. "… It was quite a task. I spent too long — months and months — just going through sketches and trying to choose."
The time and effort that Whitaker put in for this exhibition fits well with the themes that runs through Young's work — and the MOA staff also exerted a fair amount of physical labor in putting this show together. Moving bronzes, hanging heavy oil paintings and setting up a plaster model for the "This Is the Place Monument" were no easy tasks.
"Just placing one of the sculptures took … three to four hours to get it secure and get it in the right place," Whitaker said.
All of which was fitting for a man who, according to Whitaker, "was constantly inspired by the idea of labor. … He loved to just look at the common man and celebrate industry."
One bronze sculpture in the exhibition depicts two men boxing, their muscles tense and their faces pained with exertion. One of Young's canvases shows men bent over, chiseling rocks, while another depicts a woman fighting against the wind as her sheep pull against their ropes.
Whitaker hopes that these images and the rest of the pieces in the exhibition will give visitors an idea of who Young was as a person and introduce "him to a new generation of museum patrons," she said.
"The theme that seems to carry throughout his work — that really encapsulates him as a person as well as the subjects that he created — (is) this idea of work and industry and just celebrating living life."
If you go …
What: “In the Arena: The Art of Mahonri Young”
When: Through Sept. 21, Monday-Thursday and Saturday, 10 a.m-6 p.m.; Friday, 10 a.m.-9 p.m.; closed Sunday
Where: Brigham Young University Museum of Art, North Campus Drive, Provo
How much: Free
Phone: 801-422-8287
Web: moa.byu.edu