Arnold Friberg was giving special permission to use his own camera to take pictures of the set that he would use to recreate artwork to publicize the film.

A funny thing happened to Friberg when preparing to take pictures of the scene when Moses parts the Red Sea. With all the special effects setup the scene could only be shot only once. Friberg was given special permission to position himself directly under the film camera. When the shot happened, and the walls of water came together, Friberg snapped his camera. But there was no click. He had forgotten to cock the shutter. Quickly, the artist tried again, but it was too late. The scene had been filmed, never to be duplicated, and Arnold Friberg’s photograph was snapped a moment too late.

Arnold Friberg’s is auctioning off his painting The Light of Christ. It is among his most famous religious art pieces.

Friberg’s oil painting depicts the resurrected Christ. In order to bid on the painting, either in person or live by phone, it requires a $25,000 deposit.

Friberg is also looking to auction off his most famous painting, The Prayer at Valley Forge, which is worth millions. The artist hopes it will find a home in the American Revolution Museum scheduled to open in 2011.
For more information on the Friberg auction visit: http://salesandauction.com/101508.htm

Arnold Friberg was asked by movie director Cecil B. DeMille to work as the production artist on the film, The Ten Commandments, after he saw some of Friberg’s Book of Mormon paintings.

But one interesting part of Fribeg’s job while working on the movie was to help the writers understand what DeMille wanted by giving artistic forms of the scenes conceived by DeMille. The movie director had conceived the entire film in his head before before a script was written. Friberg would sketch scenes and the writers would use them for the basis for dialogue and action.

There were so many scenes for Friberg to picture that the artist often quickly sketched in pencil or watercolor. But some Friberg more elaborately planned and painted in oils. The crossing of the Red Sea, for example, was first produced as a massive oil painting, then the filming was planned around the effects Friberg created.

Friberg’s painting of the Hebrews crossing the Red Sea reveals a diverse group of people, each with an individual story. When the artist conceived of the people to be depicted in the Exodus scene, Friberg drew upon the memories of his army days. During his tour of duty in Europe, the artist witnessed the endless throngs of displaced people clogging the roads of Germany. They carried all of their belongings and, much like the Israelites, they did not know where they were going or what the future would hold.

Arnold Friberg was one of the pioneers in the LDS art world. He didn’t have specialized art galleries and the Internet to expose his work. Today that has all changed. Down in Prove is a blend of an LDS bookstore and art gallery called Olivewood. The owners seek to bring high-end literature and art to complement the LDS culture.

The store is dedicated to the finest of art and decided for the LDS niche they only sell quality.

LDS art still hasn’t achieved the sophistication, acclaim or interest of art critics from the leading art centers of Chicago or New York ─ even though the subjects merit it. LDS history is filled with great subject matter.

All the writings available at the store are the scholarly works of LDS authors including Hugh Nibley and Turman Madsen. The store also represents LDS artists Joseph Brickey, Robert Boyd, and Adam Abrams.

While the art and scholarly books are for sale, one display case offers items rich in LDS Church history that are not for sale. It includes an original copy of the Book of Mormon; copies of the death masks of church founder Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum, both martyred in Carthage, Illinois.

Since the Arnold Friberg LDS art show opened at the Mesa Arizona Visitor’s center tons of people have come from all over to see Friberg’s twelve amazing and powerful Book of Mormon painting. Here are a few testimonials:
“When I saw the art at The Mesa Visitor Center I was blown away, I Googled and found http://ldsartcollector.com. Both of your sites are great! Thanks so much.”
-Clark G.

“I heard about the Mesa Show and had to go, it was better than I could have imagined. They even had Dustin Snow playing the great music heard on this site live at the Visitor Center. Thanks so much for organizing this, it really is awesome.”
-Nikki

The Mormon Times wrote an announcement about the Arnold Friberg twelve piece Book of Mormon art exhibit at the Mesa, Arizona temple.

Check the article out at MormonTimes.com

If you are headed to Salt Lake City for LDS general conference there are a two must sees.

Arnold Friberg’s original Book of Mormon art collection is on display inside the conference center. Friberg’s powerful collection changed the way the LDS church members view the Book of Mormon. A variety of art selections are used in the Mormon church’s “blue” Book of Mormon that missionaries use to teach investigators.

For those of you in the Mesa, Arizona area the art collection is currently on display at the temple visitor’s center.

LDS artist Mark Mabry’s powerful photography exhibit “Reflections of Christ,” is coming to Salt Lake City this Friday and Saturday for the Mormon general church’s conference at the Joseph Smith memorial building. Mabry’s attracted the attention of LDS church leaders who are now using the pictures in the missionary effort. For more information see ReflectionsofChrist.org

It is rumored that Arnold Friberg is the man behind the design of the CTR ring. Not true. The supposed artist behind that is Joel Izatt under the direction of Coy Miles.

Many artists claim to have designed the original CTR ring which is popular among LDS church members, but the most common belief is that Miles was the leader in directing the design. Miles never registered the ring design with the federal copyright office. And, in fact, the LDS church owns the copyright for the design.

Today, the symbol created for children adorns LDS community fingers across the globe. The CTR logo has been translated into Spanish (”Haz Lo Justo”) and dozens of other languages, including Romanian, Samoan and Hilgaynon. What was once an inexpensive, simple artistic token has now morphed into hundreds of styles available for prices from less than $1 to well over $200.

In 2005, LDS Church distribution services, internationally, distributed 522,455 new CTR rings in 24 languages. And that number doesn’t reflect the sales in stores such as Deseret Book nor the orders generated among licensed jewelry wholesalers.

Now there is still a slight connection between Friberg and the CTR. See Miles is the one that personally commissioned Friberg to commemorate the 100th anniversary of college football. Miles has said he would have to go sit with Friberg to make sure they were done on time.

The Mormon Times reports that Arnold Friberg is one of three artists who have their work on display during the 225th anniversary celebration of the Treaty of Paris, sponsored by the Philadelphia Academy of Fine Arts and the American Revolution Museum at Valley Forge.

Friberg’s “The Prayer at Valley Forge,” will be on dispay. Th artists depicted George Washington kneeling in prayer besides his horse.

The art exhibition opened last week and continues through October 12 at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia. Tens of thousands of prints of “The Prayer at Valley Forge” have been distributed worldwide.

To read the Mormon Times article about Arnold Friberg and his painting visit: http://www.mormontimes.com/MITN_entertainment.php?id=3708

A rare opportunity is coming to Mesa, Arizona.

Below is a sample video of what the Arnold Friberg Book of Mormon art exhibit will look and feel like.