SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) \u2014 The Prayer at Valley Forge painting will be honored as part of the America 250 celebration.<\/p>\n
Its painter \u2014 Arnold Friberg \u2014 lived in Utah for about 60 years, and his portfolio of historic and religious paintings spans far beyond his most famous.<\/p>\n
Film director Bruce D-Johnson, who recently led the documentary “An American Storyteller: The Art of Arnold Friberg,” shared, \u201cwhat inspired me was Arnold’s story needs to be told. Here’s a brilliant artist with some of the most iconic art of the 20th century, yet he’s relatively unknown.\u201d<\/p>\n
MORE | Amazing America<\/p>\n
Arnold Friberg was born to two immigrants in Chicago and believed his gift for art started at birth.<\/p>\n
\u201cHis dad was from Sweden, and his mom was from Norway, and they didn’t know each other, and they ended up working for someone in Chicago. He was the gardener and she was, she took care of the house,\u201d said Friberg’s daughter-in-law Jayna Friberg-Cleamons.<\/p>\n
He moved to Phoenix at age 3 and spent his childhood tracing cartoons out of phone books and newspapers. By high school, he was receiving national awards and attention from donors that took him to art school in Chicago and New York.<\/p>\n
Plans changed when he was drafted for World War II, but he still had art, drawing scouting maps in Germany.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe remembers stepping over dead bodies and thinking, ‘What does this come to?’, and when America finally won the war, he says, ‘We can never do this again,’\u201d Friberg-Cleamons said.<\/p>\n
Friberg turned to art to bring purpose to what it means to be American and capture moments in US history. He painted scenes from the Book of Mormon and the Wild West.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe could capture the strength of a lonely cowboy wrestling cattle. And the bravery that it took,\u201d said Kim Cooper with First Freedom Art. \u201cHe also captured the First Nations and the Inuit people, standing strong in their traditional regalia. And he showed their bravery and their life just etched on their face.\u201d<\/p>\n
His career took off painting concepts for The Ten Commandments film, but he would also be commissioned to paint pieces across genres, including General Motors, the Golden Nugget Casino, and even the Queen of England. When he moved to Utah in 1950, he painted for the hundred-year anniversary of the state.<\/p>\n
The common thread through all these was a dedication to his subjects, even growing a beard to be able to paint one accurately.<\/p>\n
Friberg-Cleamons said, \u201cHe went to the library because he just wanted to make sure he had all the research for the paintings. He rented costumes from Paramount Studios so that all the costumes were authentic. He would hire actual gamblers to make sure people had the right expression depending on what was in their hand. He just put so much detail and made sure everything was exactly right.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFriberg captured the heart and soul of his subjects from the American West to the patriotic paintings to paintings of royalty,\u201d Cooper said. \u201cHe could look into somebody’s soul and see who they were. He could display their strength and conviction like no one else. His attention to detail was his respect and honor for the subject.\u201d<\/p>\n
While he spent his career commissioned by many greats, a moment came when he felt he needed to paint something for the country, not a check.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was coming upon the 200th birthday of America, and no one asked him to paint that painting. But he often tells me when there’s a painting that’s supposed to be done, he feels a tap on his shoulder and says, ‘You’ve been selected to do that,'” Friberg-Cleamons said. \u201cHe said, ‘This is my gift for America.’\u201d<\/p>\n
When his son came back from the Vietnam War with PTSD and backlash from other Americans, it struck close to home.<\/p>\n
Friberg-Cleamons remembers he said, \u201cWe’ve got to get back to where our country started. We have got to get back to what we fought for.\u201d<\/p>\n
The inspiration came from the Prayer of Valley Forge. Friberg studied at the Smithsonian, looking at Washington\u2019s original uniform, and spent several years perfecting the painting, from the texture of the snow to the sweat of Washington\u2019s knuckles. All this to depict a moment of Washington’s vulnerability, with his troops experiencing extreme food shortages, disease, and thousands of deaths.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Revolutionary War could have easily gone in the favor of the British, we could have lost,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cWe just came out of being defeated in Manhattan. Washington, with his scraggly army, retreated into Valley Forge, and there was real doubt whether they would survive.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHere was General George Washington. It was up to him to find a turning point in the war, and it was just that, that bare human feeling to be on his knees, praying in all humility to God to get him out of that situation,\u201d Friberg-Cleamons said.<\/p>\n
Friberg’s family describes him as a proud patriot who felt it his duty to paint what mattered and inspire people to feel and learn American history.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe felt the pressure of humanity to create all the things in the lifetime that he had,\u201d Friberg-Cleamons said. \u201cIt’s remarkable how much he accomplished.\u201d<\/p>\n
Black added, \u201cHe wanted to leave a mark, and he certainly did. We could all go throughout our lives knowing that we were born into this great country and we have a mark to leave, too.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Valley Forge painting reminds us that our country started on its knees,\u201d Cooper said. \u201cPeople were on a quest to be able to worship as they chose and get freedom like they had never experienced. That painting reminds us that we, too, today, still need to be on our knees, particularly for America’s 250th.\u201d<\/p>\n
Friberg\u2019s paintings now span all around the world, on display at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library, the Virginia Museum of History and Culture, the Museum of the Bible, the Booth Museum of Western Art, and the House of Parliament in London.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think Friberg especially told stories through his paintings, and so we can remember history because of how he captured it for us,\u201d Cooper said.<\/p>\n
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