Good Bye to a Master

"Art is always at it's best when serving a cause greater than the artist."

Last week a marvelous artist passed away. Arnold Frieberg was 90 something years old and had painted for long time. He painted some of the world's most recognizable art. My favorite of his is The Prayer at Valley Forge. But he also did the artist's renderings for Cecil B. DeMille's The 10 Commandments.

Mr. Frieberg also painted some exquisite scenes from the Book of Mormon as well as more folksy western, British, Canadian, and even athletic scenes. He had an eye for detail and could capture the feeling as well as the action.

A few years ago I dragged the family to the Salt Lake valley to see an exhibit of some of Mr. Frieberg's work. This exhibit included The 10 Commandments drawings and paintings as well as artifacts from the production itself. They were pretty impressive.

But hanging in the hall as you finished The 10 Commandments portion was the original, and humongous I must say, Prayer at Valley Forge. It was massive and intricate and beautiful and powerful and quite moving.

I don't have the artistic talent to express myself in that way, but I am so grateful for people who can capture a feeling or a scene and paint it full of emotion and awe and gratitude. For me, that is what Mr. Frieberg brought to his work. While he lived he painted prolifically and I think the world is lucky to have so many examples of his varied work to uplift and inspire us.

And I have to wonder as Mr. Frieberg passed on and met His Maker, if he thought just to himself "I really captured His essence in my paintings." I wouldn't be surprised if he did.