Individual and Church
Highlights from section 2 of Work and Wonder
With the establishment of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Prophet Joseph Smith proclaimed a restoration of Jesus Christ’s gospel, including a greater fullness of doctrine, as well as continuing revelation and ordinances through priesthood authority. From its beginning, the Church has encouraged artworks that express doctrinal truths and enhance members’ beliefs. These works teach the Gospel of Christ using visual language readily understood by an increasingly global Church.
At the same time, Latter-day Saint teachings assert that individuals can experience direct communion with the divine through personal revelation, allowing faithful followers to grow in relationship with God and obtain specific guidance for their lives. Many Latter-day Saint artists explore the vital dynamic of personal seeking and testimony in their work and strive to convey their individual perspectives––including varied and meaningful visualizations of scripture and the Savior, Jesus Christ—through their personalized language of style, form, and symbol.
Jorge Cocco Santángelo (Argentine, born 1936), Cast the Net and Ye Shall Find, 2016. Oil on canvas, 30 x 40 inches. Church History Museum.
Cast the Net and Ye Shall Find
Jorge Cocco Santángelo’s scriptural images combine simple, modernist forms and vibrant colors to invite new perspectives on Jesus Christ’s ministry. In this story from the Gospel of John, the resurrected Savior observes His disciples from the shore. The artist uses geometric forms as potent symbols: the Savior’s seated, triangular form and the rocks at His side that convey divine stability. The vertical axis between the cooking fire and the disciples’ boat mast represents their willingness to fish, as Jesus had counseled them. A triangle of white light, similar to Jesus’s form, and a shaft of light that projects heavenward symbolize the disciples’ recognition of Christ. The more chaotic tangle of earthen-colored tree limbs and logs may represent the disciples’ choices to follow the Master or go another way.
Harry Anderson (American, 1906–1996), The Second Coming, 1979. Oil on canvas, 120 x 79 inches. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
The Second Coming
In The Second Coming, Christ descends in majesty and glory through a concourse of rejoicing angels. Anderson’s first painting commission for the Church came in 1963, during a period of intense change in the world and immense growth for the Church. His painting is one of the most recognizable images of Jesus Christ in the canon of Latter-day Saint art. It projects a crucial tenet of belief for members of the Church—the Second Coming of Jesus Christ—but it was also important for Anderson, who was a Seventh-day Adventist. Anderson’s painting hangs in the Salt Lake temple but it is also widely reproduced throughout the Church, making it one of the most recognizable images in the Latter-day Saint faith.
Richard Burde (German, 1912–1998), The Prodigal Son’s Return, 1960. Oil on canvas, 35 x 35.25 inches. Church History Museum.
The Prodigal Son's Return
The parable of the prodigal son embodies the redemption and divine love available through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Richard Burde portrays the reunion between a loving father and his repentant son in a farm setting, using simplified forms and bold colors inspired by European modernism. The aged father holds his son against his chest and looks down with aching compassion. The golden moon close to the father’s face may indicate divine awareness of his parental prayers or the passage of time as the father waited for his absent son. The returning son kneels humbly, his request for forgiveness affirmed. His foot extends beyond the canvas, which seems to imply the son has barely entered the scene—his family’s property—before his father welcomes him.
Sutcliffe Maudsley (British, 1809–1881), Lucy Mack Smith, circa 1842. Gouache on paper, 12 x 7.5 inches. Church History Museum.
Lucy Mack Smith
British-born Sutcliffe Maudsley became a notable artist in the early Church, creating rare portraits of the Prophet Joseph Smith and his family. This image honors Lucy Mack Smith: Joseph and Hyrum Smith’s mother and an exemplar among her fellow Saints. “Mother Smith” holds the Book of Mormon in her right hand, referencing her role as a witness to its coming forth and authenticity. Lucy was one of the few people permitted to handle the engraved plates. An Egyptian facsimile reproduced from the Book of Abraham hangs over Lucy’s head–alluding to Lucy’s interest in the ancient Egyptian papyri and artifacts that were the source material for Joseph’s translation. Lucy kept the objects in her home and showed them to curious visitors. Her association with both the Book of Mormon and the Book of Abraham assert her role as an honored matriarch, influential early Church member, and important witness of the Restoration.
Emile Wilson (Sierra Leonean, born 1967), Confirmation in Sierra Leone, 1992. Textile, 34.5 x 30 inches. Church History Museum.
Confirmation in Sierra Leone
This work globalizes a key ritual in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: the confirmation of the Holy Ghost to newly baptized members.
Cloth has long been used for ceremonial and protective purposes in the artist’s homeland of Sierra Leone. A specialist in the medium of batik, or resist-dyed fabric, artist Emile Wilson uses this traditional art form to express his faith in the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. Wilson draws upon the sacred associations of fabric when making art in batik with subjects taken from Latter-day Saint history and doctrine. The men conducting this ordinance wear attire typically worn in this region in Africa, including white shirts and brightly colored slacks for some and vivid patterned traditional clothing for others.
Aoba Taiichi (Japanese, born 1954), Become Familiar with the Scriptures, 1993. Earthenware/fired clay, 14 x 11 x 4.5 inches. Church History Museum.
Become Familiar with the Scriptures
Aoba’s Become Familiar with the Scriptures utilizes the Japanese ceramic tradition to interpret scriptural themes. God’s abiding love for His children is symbolized by the tree of life at the center of the ring. In the surrounding clay, the artist describes different Book of Mormon scenes using inlay carving called zougan: Jesus Christ is at the top, flanked by kneeling worshipers; Samuel the prophet stands on the wall; Captain Moroni appears with the title of liberty; and Lehi stands with his family. A horse and sword signal the familial break between Nephites and Lamanites. The figure threatening with the sword represents the cycle of pride that leads to wars and destruction.
Wavy lines across the sand represent the seas and create a sense of separation between the lands described in the Book of Mormon as well as Aoba’s homeland of Japan. Aoba began learning ceramics from his father, the renowned ceramicist Aoba Taiyo, in 1975, the same year he joined the Church. His traditional Japanese claywork includes firing in wood-burning brick kilns and creating his own glazes.