Intro to Art Studies
by Karen Rackliffe
When we ponder on the meaning of the image and the message the artist was striving to communicate, we are led to examine our own beliefs and feelings about the divine. Borrowing liberally from the British educator, Charlotte Mason (1842-1924), here are some suggestions on art study for the LDS student. Art study needn’t take much time and can add tremendously to your understanding of all things.
These activities are suitable for all family members as they study together, seeking to explore the meaning of art and religion in various ways. Each study session should be short and focused, between 5 and 15 minutes, depending on the group.
Charlotte Mason recommended the study of one artist at a time. In her schools, one picture (out of a collection of six selected works) was studied separately. For the first exposure, the student was shown the picture for 2-3 minutes. They were instructed to study the picture carefully. Then, the teacher covered the picture and asked the students what they could remember from the picture by way of detail or feeling.
Young children are particularly good at this sort of skill. The picture narrations can be oral or written, individual or group, as you choose. This is also a good foundation for language arts skills. I found it helpful to write or type what my young children had to say. They learned their opinion was valued and important to me. In this lesson, the teacher does not give her opinion or interpretation of the piece. One should in no way get between the student and the art. This is their experience with that image. Whatever they gain is from their own mind and heart.
At another time the family may share their impressions, so as to learn from one another. On another day, the same picture is again displayed while the teacher reads a short biography of the life of the artist. The student may again be asked to narrated back the things he felt were most significant to remember.
In another session, one might discuss color, line, composition, values (lights and darks), repetition of form, or energy, depending on the picture, to further explore why the artist portrayed the subject as he did. It is fun to try a memory picture of the print you are studying. By now the students are familiar with the work.
Drawing or painting the picture from memory is another form of narration. It demonstrates that the material has found a place in the memory of the student. Also enlightening is trying to copy the picture of the master in the same style and medium of the original. This is very instructive. All great artists copy from the masters.
Or, one may choose to represent the subject matter in a different form from the original, a collage from an oil, or a poem from a painting. Mason spent a month on each picture, changing artists each term. I prefer to spend one week on each print, finishing an artist every six weeks, the time it takes to check out a library book and renew it once.
In the home, we can hang the pictures in a prominent place where we will see it often. After studying 6 pictures by the same artist, learning about their life, practicing their art, each picture becomes a familiar friend when we see it again.
Recommendations for LDS Art Studies
The most difficult part of an ongoing art study program is finding enough prints from each artist. To help with this problem, I will guide you to the collections most readily available through the Gospel Art Packet, the meeting house library, and standard church publications.
A Demonstration Art Study: Arnold Friberg
For artist Arnold Friberg, there are eight prints in the paperback The Book Of Mormon: Another Testament of Christ. Twelve prints are in the Gospel Art Packet. These should all be available to check out from your meetinghouse library in larger sizes if desired.
Art Prints by Friberg include:
#302 The Liahona
#303 Nephi Subdues His Rebellious Brothers
#304 Lehi and His People Arrive in the Promised Land
#308 Abinadi before King Noah
#309 Alma Baptizes in the Waters of Mormon
#310 Ammon Defends the Flocks of King Lamoni
#312 Captain Moroni Raises the Title of Liberty
#313 Two Thousand Young Warriors
#314 Samuel the Lamanite on the Wall
#315 Christ Appears to the Nephites
#318 The Brother of Jared Sees the Finger of the Lord
#319 Mormon Bids Farewell to a Once Great Nation
OF SPECIAL NOTE
Arnold Friberg (1913-) was commissioned by the Primary in the1950s to paint dramatic illustrations for the Book of Mormon. The color quality of the prints in your Book of Mormon is better than the orange tones of the prints in the Gospel Art Packet. It would be worth comparing both versions to be aware of this difference. It is particularly pronounced in #309 Alma Baptizes in the Waters of Mormon and #314 Samuel the Lamanite on the Wall.
Discuss why this might be. Does the color change the picture in any way? These paintings are instructive story-tellers in their own right. Many Latter-day Saints form their visual image of the Book of Mormon from these pictures. They are full of action, personality, and personal interpretation.
Friberg said, “I try to bring into reality the stories so often taught in Sunday school. These stories are not mere allegory; they happened to real people who had names, jobs, and grandchildren. . . . Through my paintings I bear witness to the truth as I understand it.” Ted Schwarz, Arnold Friberg: The Passion of a Modern Master (Flagstaff, Arizona: Northland Press, 1985), 142.
“Friberg, whose Swedish father and Norwegian mother were both Mormon converts and immigrants to America, began drawing at a young age. By the time he was eight, he had aspirations to be a newspaper cartoonist, but after studying at the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts and later in New York, he went on to become a noted commercial artist and illustrator.
"He is best known for his work with Cecil B. DeMille’s film The Ten Commandments and his nearly four decades as Chief illustrator of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. . . .[the} legendary Hollywood mogul Cecil B. DeMille . . . commissioned Friberg to develop the artistic look and costuming for the classic film The Ten Commandments. The artist provided large paintings along with drawings of actors with their individual dress.
Because the movie schedule was tight and the Book of Mormon series was not yet finished, Friberg asked President David O. McKay for advice. President McKay replied ‘The Ten Commandments can’t wait. They are making it now. The Book of Mormon can wait. Do The Ten Commandments.’
DeMille later described Friberg and his work: ‘Among the living artists who have dedicated themselves largely to religious art, one stands out for his virility and warmth, dramatic understanding and truth. That man is Arnold Friberg.’” from Images of Faith: Art of the Latter-day Saints, published by Deseret Book Company, Salt Lake City, UT,1995, pgs. 101-103.
Study Suggestions:
As we studied each print, we took a day to read the scripture story and have the children tell it back in their own words. If you are using the Gospel Art Packet, the stories are summarized on the back of the card with the scripture references. You may want to choose only your favorite from these twelve familiar illustrations. We chose four favorites and then added a Canadian Mounted Police print and the widely circulated Prayer at Valley Forge that depicts George Washington praying in the snow with his horse behind him.
I read the family the story from an independent source. We found a brochure in an art print gallery that explained that Friberg painted this picture in the dead of a Valley Forge winter, using detailed museum sketches for the uniform and horse gear. Because Friberg is nationally known, you may want to check your local public library for more examples of his art and stories about his life.
Discuss the muscles. In his Book of Mormon art and Canadian Mounties series the men are supermen, they are heros of epic proportions. How did he show this? Why? What does a hero really look like? When we studied the Mountie picture, it lent itself to be a story starter. One child imagined a little story about the scene. We like to try and find a self-portrait of the artist. Friberg has a nice one of himself painting a western scene.
Watch The Ten Commandments video. Collect your narrations and small copies of the prints in a Family Art Appreciation notebook. This will become a keepsake as you add to it over the years.
Narration Examples:
Eight year-old boy
Self-portrait: “I saw an Indian headdress, a rifle, a Mountie hat, and a mounted police uniform. He was painting a picture of a Mountie going into an Indian tribe to find a robber. The painter is wearing a flannel shirt, holding a stick in his hand with a ball on it. The stick helps him to steady his painting hand. The picture has Indian tepees in it. It’s a big picture. The artist painted the Book of Mormon pictures. He worked on the Moses movie (Ten Commandments). He liked to paint strong people.”
Ten year-old boy
The Liahona: “This picture was done by Arnold Friberg. He did most all the pictures in the Book of Mormon. This picture has people in it. They found a compasslike ball. If they were righteous it would point to where they should go. And if they were not, it would go crazy. The most important person in this picture is Lehi. He is holding the liahona. He is in a white robe. He has a red hat to protect him from the desert sun. By his side is his son, Nephi. They have two camels. There are twelve other people besides Nephi and Lehi.”
Twelve year old girl
“‘Samuel the Lamanite Prophesies’ is an interesting scene Arnold Friberg painted for the Book of Mormon. It is of a man standing on a city wall, and lots of angry people trying to get him down. The man has a long stick and he is stretching it out to the people. He is the center of the picture, even though he isn’t in the center. Your eyes helplessly shoot towards him. One reason is because he is wearing bright red, and another is because the brightest part of the picture is a sunset directly behind him. Also, all the people, mostly big, strong, army guys, are looking at him and shooting arrows at him. There is a man in the middle that is standing above everybody else, looking scary and shooting at Samuel. I like this picture.”
