Art News

Utah Artist Known for Washington Painting Dies

SALT LAKE CITY (AP).- Arnold Friberg, a Utah artist best known for his painting of George Washington in prayer at Valley Forge, died Thursday, his family said. He was 96 Jayna Friberg-Cleamons said her father-in-law died at a Salt Lake City rehabilitation center following hip replacement surgery. Friberg, a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, also painted portraits of figures from the Book of Mormon. “He didn’t want to be known as Mormon artist,” Friberg-Cleamons told The Associated Press. “He just wants to be defined as an artist that painted a wide range of things.” Friberg-Cleamons said Friberg became an expert in any subject area he depicted, from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to the history of college football. She said his paintings are full of emotion. “There’s something about the light that (he) put in these paintings that just touches” people, she said. “His work inspires people.” Friberg also painted Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Charles, his