Arnold Friberg

Infobox Artist
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name = Arnold Friberg


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birthdate = 1913-12-21
location = Winnetka, Illinois
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nationality = United States
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works = "The Prayer at Valley Forge"
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Arnold Friberg (b. December 21, 1913 in Winnetka, Illinois,cite web|url=http://www.lib.utah.edu/fa/UtahArtists/artists/friberg/index.html|title=Arnold Friberg|publisher=Utah Artists Project|accessdate=2006-09-30] cite web|url=http://www.meridianmagazine.com/arts/001121friberg.html|title=The Book of Mormon Paintings of Arnold Friberg|publisher=Meridian Magazine|date=2001-09-30|accessdate=2006-09-30] cite web|url=http://www.schoolofabraham.com/friberg.htm|title=Arnold Friberg: An Art Study created by Karen Rackliffe|author=Karen Rackliffe|first=Karen|last=Rackliffe|publisher=School of Abraham|accessdate=2006-09-30] ) is an American illustrator and painter noted for his religious and patriotic works. He is perhaps best known for his 1975 painting "The Prayer at Valley Forge", a depiction of George Washington praying at Valley Forge [cite web|url=http://www.olywa.net/mmccahan/gbgeorgewashington.html|title="The Prayer at Valley Forge" by Arnold Friberg|accessdate=2006-09-30] [cite web|url=http://ggcweb.com/nnht/pages.asp?pg=products&specific=jqhopoj8|title=The Prayer At Valley Forge|publisher=Northern Neck Heritage Tours|accessdate=2006-09-30] . He is also well known for his 15 "pre-visualization" paintings for the Cecil B. DeMille film "The Ten Commandments" — used to promote the film worldwide — for which he received an Academy Award nomination. He has been admitted as a lifetime member of the Royal Society of Arts and is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,Fact|The previous listed source doesn't say either way whether he's a member|date=October 2008 for whom he did a series of paintings depicting scenes from the "Book of Mormon".

Biography

Friberg was born to a Swedish father and a Norwegian mother. His family moved to Arizona when he was three years old, and he began drawing cartoons by the time he was seven. While in high school, Friberg learned by meeting with the artists at the "The Arizona Republic", and earned money by creating signs for local businesses while being apprenticed to a local sign painter.

After graduating from high school, Friberg attended the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts, working for various local printers doing commercial art while attending school and for several years afterward. This included calendar work for the Northwest Paper Company, for whom he created paintings of Mounties. Friberg has created more that 300 paintings depicting Mounties, and he is the only American made an honorary member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP). In 1940, Friberg moved to New York City and began studying as a fellow student with Norman Rockwell under the artist Harvey Dunn at the Grand Central School of Art.

After creating a series of paintings depicting Western scenes for a calendar company in 1948, Friberg moved to Utah in 1950 in order to begin teaching commercial art at the University of Utah. In 1953, he moved to Hollywood in order to work on the previsualization paintings commissioned by Cecil B. DeMille for "The Ten Commandments". Friberg was hired after DeMille was shown some of Fribergs paintings by a friend. At some point during the 1950s, Friberg was commissioned by the Primary Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to create a series of paintings depicting events in "The Book of Mormon".

In 1968, Friberg was commissioned by Chevrolet to create a series of paintings showing the greatest moments in college football for use in their 1969 advertising campaign. After extensive research on the location during winter and the equipment and gear used by Revolutionary War soldiers, Friberg created his 1975 masterpiece "The Prayer at Valley Forge". This depicts George Washington praying while the Continental Army winters at Valley Forge in Pennsylvania during 1777 and 1778. In 1977, he was commissioned to create a series of saloon paintings for the Golden Nugget in Las Vegas, Nevada. Due to his previous work with the RCMP, Friberg was commissioned to paint HRH The Prince of Wales and his horse Centennial (great-grandson of Man o' War). This led to an additional commission in 1990 to paint a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, also with Centennial. Both portraits were painted at Buckingham Palace.

Friberg currently resides in Salt Lake City, Utah, where he maintains a studio.

Partial list of works

Listed alphabetically by title.

References

External links

* [http://www.ldsartshow.com/ Friberg's LDS paintings]
* [http://www.fribergfineart.com/ Friberg Fine Art] (official site)
* [http://www.arnold-friberg.com/ Arnold Friberg Fine Art]