This is the second part of the video about Arnold Friberg painting “The Prayer at Valley Forge

Perhaps Arnold Friberg’s most famous painting is “The Prayer At Valley Forge.” This video is part one of two which gives great insight into creation of the painting.

Who would have thought Arnold Friberg, the great artist, had a connection to O.J. Simpson and even named a painting after him? In the late 1960’s Friberg created quite a few piece of college football art.

Painted in 1968, O.J. Breaks For Daylight: USC vs. UCLA, were doing battle on the gridiron in 1968, a game that starred O.J. Simpson, one of the greatest halfbacks of modern times. It was a game that USC won, with Simpson completing an unusally long and spectacular run to clinch the victory.

The lost was such an embarrassment to UCLA that Friberg received no cooperation from that school’s athletic department. USC, on the other hand, was delighted to loan him anything he desired. He was provided with a film strip of the game and even O.J. Simpson’s uniform.

While attending art school in Chicago, Arnold Friberg learned to box in his spare time. There were gyms in the Chicago area where men could train to become professional fighters. Friberg had always desired to learn the art of self-defense, so he attended Trafton’s Gym on Randolph Street, where he was given the opportunity to be taught by professionals, even though he never attempted to involve himself in prize fighting.

The boxing was intended only for physical fitness, though Friberg did use his skills one night when he was entering a cafeteria. He glanced inside and saw nine gang members terrorizing a man who was working alone behind the counter. They were smashing dishes, throwing food, and generally wrecking the place.

Friberg raced inside to see what he could do. He positioned himself just right, with his back to the wall, so they could only come at him from the front. The gang members kept getting in each other’s way, so all Friberg had to do was strike out at whoever was closest to him. By the time the fight was over and the police had arrived, Friberg had beaten his opponents.

Short on funds, Arnold Friberg took more than a year off from school to earn enough money to complete a second year. This is so unlike the society we live in today, when most college students are able to take out loans or receive grants for their education.

Friberg worked for the James Lloyd Company as a freelance commercial artist. He prepared display work for exhibitions and fairs, price cards and menus for soda fountains, advertising cards for the wresting arena, and similar assignments.

He later prepared illustrations that were printed in eastern newspapers and magazines to lure tourists to the area. Phoenix, Arizona was counting on its reputation as a sun belt city to entice wealthy vacationers to leave the snow and cold and to enjoy the city’s resorts.

Ironically Friberg produced many of his Phoenix advertisements in a poorly heated building. Bundled in overcoats, constantly blowing his hands to keep warm, Friberg would heat his hands and then draw an illustration of smiling, lightly clad golfers under the blazing Arizona sun.

The life drawing art classes Arnold Friberg took his first year of college at the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts were taught by two radically different artists: Von Schroeder and Weisenorn. The former studied in Munich and followed the German realist school of painting. He was concerned with detail and accuracy, and he stressed the need to pay attention to every detail and accuracy, and he stressed the need to pay attention to every facet of the human body. Alternating with Von Schroeder was Weisenborn, a modern artist who was seemingly unconcerned about traditional academic accuracy. The stark contrast in their teachings styles frustrated Arnold Friberg, that is, until it became apparent that an important lesson in art was being taught: there is no one right way to draw successfully. There are many different styles of art to choose from and it is important for students to understand all of them in their search of a unique approach.

In the midst of the Great Depression Arnold Friberg moved from small town Phoenix to Chicago in the fall 1931 to attend the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts. This was the first time in the artists life that he could visit museums and see the works of great artists of the past and present.

On the first day of class, Arnold Friberg was faced with an attractive, red-haired model who was fully clothed. He sketched her face and worked to capture each pose. On the following day the same model waiting, only this time she was nude. Arnold Friberg had to begin learning to paint accurate renderings of human anatomy. He worked with a variety of models some old, fat, skinny, tall. The variety gave Arnold Friberg the experience of drawing and painting human subjects of all shapes and sizes. After the initial surprise of working with nude models, the work became a technical exercise not unlike drawing landscapes.