Arnold Friberg
(Winnetka, Illinois, 1913 - 2010, Salt Lake City, Utah)
Arnold Friberg was a well-known and talented designer, illustrator, and painter. He joined the University of Utah art department studio teaching faculty in 1949 after early training in the state of Illinois, first as a sign and "show card" painter and then as a student at Chicago's Academy of Fine Arts and American Academy of Art. Already in the midst of a successful career as an illustrator, Friberg was best known by that time as the maker of Mountie illustrations for calendars; he had painted his first one for Northwest Paper Co. in 1937, and his overall visual statement continued to be one of popularly cherished ideals set within firmly finished narratives. Examples of this through years of work are his creation of famed series paintings to illustrate not only stories from the Book of Mormon and later the history of football but also paintings and designs for Cecil B. DeMille's film The Ten Commandments in the mid-1950s; he was nominated for an Oscar in 1957 for his work with DeMille. He was later commissioned by the Canadian government to paint portraits of Prince Charles in 1978 and Queen Elizabeth in 1990. Friberg traveled to Buckingham Palace to paint both portraits. Arnold Friberg passed away July 1, 2010 following surgery. Days before his death, he commented that he was proud of the work he was leaving to the world.
(Winnetka, Illinois, 1913 - 2010, Salt Lake City, Utah)
Arnold Friberg was a well-known and talented designer, illustrator, and painter. He joined the University of Utah art department studio teaching faculty in 1949 after early training in the state of Illinois, first as a sign and "show card" painter and then as a student at Chicago's Academy of Fine Arts and American Academy of Art. Already in the midst of a successful career as an illustrator, Friberg was best known by that time as the maker of Mountie illustrations for calendars; he had painted his first one for Northwest Paper Co. in 1937, and his overall visual statement continued to be one of popularly cherished ideals set within firmly finished narratives. Examples of this through years of work are his creation of famed series paintings to illustrate not only stories from the Book of Mormon and later the history of football but also paintings and designs for Cecil B. DeMille's film The Ten Commandments in the mid-1950s; he was nominated for an Oscar in 1957 for his work with DeMille. He was later commissioned by the Canadian government to paint portraits of Prince Charles in 1978 and Queen Elizabeth in 1990. Friberg traveled to Buckingham Palace to paint both portraits. Arnold Friberg passed away July 1, 2010 following surgery. Days before his death, he commented that he was proud of the work he was leaving to the world.
