The Art of Arnold Friberg

An artist died on Thursday, July 1—a man whose name you may not know but whose work you surely will recognize. His most famous painting is probably The Prayer at Valley Forge (1975), which hangs today at George Washington’s home at Mount Vernon. And if you’ve ever leafed through a copy of The Book of Mormon , the odds are you’ve encountered others of his works; reproductions of his paintings of scenes from that sacred book are bound into many copies. He painted Biblical scenes, nostalgic views of the American West, and great moments in the history of American college football. He was commissioned to paint equestrian portraits of England’s Prince Charles and Queen Elizabeth, and his many depictions of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police earned him an honorary membership in that fabled force. He also was nominated, in 1957, for an Academy Award. His name was Arnold Friberg.

In the early 1950s, impressed with Friberg’s work for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, director Cecil B. DeMille hired him to work on his monumental film of The Ten Commandments . As assistant art director, Friberg’s first job was to conceptualize key scenes and people as they would appear in the film. As DeMille filmed, he followed Friberg’s sketches and paintings closely. Friberg also designed the film’s opening credits. He received on-screen credit—and his Academy Award nomination—as one of five costume designers on the film. (It was Friberg who designed Moses’ now-iconic robe of dark red striped with black and white.) Friberg’s fifteen paintings of scenes from The Ten Commandments toured the world in 1957 and 1958 and were reproduced in the film’s souvenir program.

In a tribute video from Utah television station KSL, the voice-over reporter notes that “With his stunning use of light, the vibrancy of his colors and his ability to capture the dramatic, American artist Arnold Friberg believed if a work didn’t have heart, it wouldn’t be remembered.” His work does have heart—and majesty, and its own special magic—and it should be remembered.