Painter. A realist who specialized in historical and religious subjects, he is probably best remembered for his 1975 portrait of George Washington, "The Prayer at Valley Forge". Raised in Arizona from age three, he was employed as a sign painter in his teens and then trained at the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts. Moving to New York City in 1940, he studied at the Grand Central School of Art, where his fellow students included Norman Rockwell. During World War II Friberg served with the 86th Infantry in both Europe and in the Pacific. Following his military service he moved to California, working first in San Francisco as a calendar artist, then in Hollywood. Friberg first gained notice when director Cecil B. DeMille commissioned him to create 15 "previsualization" paintings, upon which he based the production design for his film "The Ten Commandments" (1956). He went on to paint numerous advertising pictures for Chevrolet and other firms, while also depicting various events from "The Book of Mormon". When called upon to portray George Washington at Valley Forge, he studied the General's uniform at the Smithsonian and went to the Schuylkill River in winter in an attempt to feel what Washington might have felt. Today the now-classic "The Prayer at Valley Forge" hangs at Mount Vernon. Over the years Friberg painted around 300 scenes of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, of which he was the only American to be made an honorary member, and in the early 1990s he traveled to London to create portraits of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Charles. Friberg died at 96 from the complications of hip replacement surgery. Always referring to himself as an "illustrator" rather than as a "painter", he said that his audience was "the guy down the street".
Painter. A realist who specialized in historical and religious subjects, he is probably best remembered for his 1975 portrait of George Washington, "The Prayer at Valley Forge". Raised in Arizona from age three, he was employed as a sign painter in his teens and then trained at the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts. Moving to New York City in 1940, he studied at the Grand Central School of Art, where his fellow students included Norman Rockwell. During World War II Friberg served with the 86th Infantry in both Europe and in the Pacific. Following his military service he moved to California, working first in San Francisco as a calendar artist, then in Hollywood. Friberg first gained notice when director Cecil B. DeMille commissioned him to create 15 "previsualization" paintings, upon which he based the production design for his film "The Ten Commandments" (1956). He went on to paint numerous advertising pictures for Chevrolet and other firms, while also depicting various events from "The Book of Mormon". When called upon to portray George Washington at Valley Forge, he studied the General's uniform at the Smithsonian and went to the Schuylkill River in winter in an attempt to feel what Washington might have felt. Today the now-classic "The Prayer at Valley Forge" hangs at Mount Vernon. Over the years Friberg painted around 300 scenes of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, of which he was the only American to be made an honorary member, and in the early 1990s he traveled to London to create portraits of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Charles. Friberg died at 96 from the complications of hip replacement surgery. Always referring to himself as an "illustrator" rather than as a "painter", he said that his audience was "the guy down the street".
Bio by: Bob Hufford
Inscription
ARNOLD FRIBERG
"All you leave the world is what you have done.
Only the work remains." A. Friberg
Family Members
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See more Friberg memorials in:
Records on Ancestry
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U.S., Cemetery and Funeral Home Collection, 1847-Current
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Cook County, Illinois, U.S., Birth Certificates Index, 1871-1922
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1930 United States Federal Census
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U.S., Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Swedish American Church Records, 1800-1947
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1920 United States Federal Census
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