Artwork of the Week

Brigham Young firmly believed that the saints “must have amusement as well as religion.” Thus, he announced that a theater would be built in Salt Lake City...

Father Time and Baby New Year are popular personifications of the year past and upcoming...

Castiglione was an eclectic artist praised as one of the most important technical innovators in the history of printmaking...

This print depicts some of the 50,000 people a day who skated at New York's Central Park during the skating craze of the 1850s and 1860s...

Theodore Butler’s winter scene reflects the artistic influence of his father-in-law Claude Monet and was likely painted at his rural home in Giverny...

Retired professor of photography from Utah State University, Craig Law has spent decades documenting Western landscapes, such as this one of Foster Reservoir, located near Preston, Idaho. The silvery hue of this black and white photograph matches the feeling of this scene; the barren trees, empty fields, and snow in the mountains suggest the transition from fall into winter. One can almost feel the chill in the air.

A pioneer in the development of color photography, Jeannette Klute tested and developed the dye transfer process at the Eastman Kodak research laboratories. Always drawn to the outdoors, Klute specialized in detailed imagery of nature, ranging from lush landscapes to intimate “portraits” of flowers, ferns, and trees. Her innovative approach to using color has made her a major player in the development of creative photography. These red leaves show a colorful fall scenes.

This autumnal scene of Emigration Canyon shows the beauty of the fall season in the state of Utah...

The painting depicts the southern Utah landscape along the Virgin River near Dixon’s home, where he spent much of his later years...

The monstrous, sashaying Death strikes a pose with a suggestion of a gentil pith helmet. Look again...

Mahonri M. Young (1877-1957), Cutting Corn, 1937, oil on canvas, 25 1/4 x 30 inches. Brigham Young University Museum of Art, purchase/gift of Mahonri M. Young Estate, 1959.

Mabel Pearl Frazer (1887-1982), Desert Grandeur, c.1940, oil on canvas, 36 ½ x 53 inches. Brigham Young University Museum of Art, 1984.

Rembrandt’s La Petite Tombe:

Christ’s invitation to “Come Ye After Me” (Mark 1:17) began on the shores the Sea of Galilei where he called his first disciples, Peter and Andrew. Christians around the world internalize the Savior’s injunction as portrayed in J. T. Harwood’s painting. Note that the fishermen’s upward gazes are not directed at Jesus, but pleading to heaven as they had secured nothing to show for their overnight efforts. Momentarily, they will respond positively to the Savior’s miraculous catch, and more importantly, his invitation to become followers of the Lord–fishers of men.

On September 30 we celebrate the birthday of Ella Peacock, an American artist born in 1905, sometimes referred to as the Matriarch of Utah Artists. Ella Peacock grew up on the East Coast but considered it too green compared to the desert scenes of Utah and Nevada, the landscapes most inspiring to her. Ultimately, she and her husband Bill settled in Spring City, Utah a city in Sanpete Valley Peacock never grew tired of. While this painting features her characteristic greys and muted tones, instead of a desert landscape, we see her daily tools as an artist. The Letter Press is surrounded by a small book or sheaf of paper, a stamp for printing, an ink roller, and a jar of brushes, indicating her interest in both painting and printmaking.

This week we welcome in the first day of fall! This autumn photograph features the glacial melt that makes up Yosemite National Park’s primary river. The trees, whose colors are changing, line the banks of the Merced River while their reflection sparkles in the calm water. Milton Goldstein began photographing in his 50s after his first trip to Yosemite, which mesmerized him. His works focus on the National Parks in the west.

This week we reverently acknowledge the twenty-first anniversary of the September 11 Attacks in New York, Virginia, and Pennsylvania. Though Reginald Marsh’s 1936 etching predates the construction of the original World Trade Centers, it is a reminder of New York City as a symbol of hope and progress. This bustling metropolis is a city to take pride in, a hallmark of individual and collective resilience even through adversity. The skyline depicted in this print, iconically presented from the Hudson River, features the originally-named Bank of Manhattan Trust Building (927’), City Bank-Farmers Trust Building (741’), and the Cities Service Building (952’), each noticeably shorter than the original Twin Towers (1368’ and 1362’), and about half as tall as today’s World Trade Center (1776’), the tallest building in the United States.