Arnold Friberg — An enduring gift to the nation
Deseret News editorial
The general, the father of our country, kneels in humility in the snow. His hands, bare against the cold, are clasped together. His head is bowed. Next to him stands his horse, its breath visible in the dim light of a winter's day.
Arnold Friberg, one of Utah's greatest artists, died last week at age 96. To members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, many of his works live on as icons of faith, especially his Book of Mormon figures rising humbly and nobly to the difficult tasks at hand. But it is this portrait of George Washington, kneeling and praying in his most desperate hour of need, that will come to be Friberg's greatest gift to the United States.
Already, it is one of the top-selling prints in the nation. Presidents, most notably Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush, have owned copies of it and looked to it for inspiration.
President John Adams was famous for writing to his wife about Independence Day: "It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires and illuminations from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forever more."
Americans are fairly good about the second part. Across the nation this weekend, there will be parades, baseball games, outdoor concerts and fireworks displays. People will hang flags in front of their homes and get together with family and friends for barbecues.
But the first part — the "day of deliverance" for which Adams and other founders, not to mention a nation of people who had fought and suffered deprivations and loss, felt such deep appreciation — has been diluted through the years. Relative peace and a prosperity unimaginable 234 years ago have led to an attitude that things in this country are as they ought to be and that the current condition is as natural as the grass and trees.
Friberg's "The Prayer at Valley Forge" will stand forever as a poignant reminder that this is not so. Freedom and liberty came at a huge cost that must be renewed from time to time. Washington faced odds so enormous that faith became the biggest arrow in his quiver.
Other moments in the nation's history, from Abraham Lincoln's appeal for prayer and charity during the darkest days of the Civil War to the hymns that echoed across the bows of U.S. and Allied warships heading toward the D-Day invasion in Europe during World War II, have reinforced the important relationship between faith and freedom.
In interviews, Friberg didn't show much concern for talk about his legacy. He wanted to leave that to the critics and others. But his death at the start of this Independence Day weekend ought to leave little doubt. His powerful works of art will continue to weave themselves deep into the American fabric as time goes on, reminding future generations that greatness is better achieved on bended knee than behind powerful man-made weapons.