Time Line
Arnold Friberg

1913: Born December 21 in Winnetka, Illinois (a suburb of Chicago).
1916: Moved to Phoenix, AZ.
1928: Attended Phoenix Union High School where he built theatre sets and drew cartoons for the Coyote School Journal. Began taking correspondence courses through Art Instruction Schools, was an apprentice at Arizona Republican newspaper, and painted letter signs for local businesses.
1931: Attended Chicago Academy of Fine Arts, while working part-time for printers.
1932-3: Back to Phoenix; freelanced at James Lloyd Company.
1934: Returned to Chicago, learned to box.
1937: Moved to New York. Attended the Grand Central School of Art, studied with master illustrator, Harvey Dunn. Began work for The Northwest Paper Company (MN), resulting in almost 300 paintings.
1942-6: Military Service. Trained at Camp Howze, Texas, sent to silkscreen school in San Antonio. Served in the 86th Infantry Division, assigned to scouting and patrolling, map-making, and training aid production. Saw combat in Germany and the Philippines.
1946-9: San Francisco, CA; Opened his own studio in San Francisco, worked on everything from package design to fashion illustrations.
1948: Commissioned to do scenes of the American West for a calendar series by the Louis F. Dow Calendar company; ignited his interest in the American West.
1949: Moved to Salt Lake City, Utah. Paints Pioneer Sunday School for Ms. Howell, head of the Primary for the LDS Church, which lead to the first illustrations of The Book of Mormon.
1949-53: Taught Commercial Art and ‘Drawing Logic’ at the University of Utah.
1953-6: Commissioned by Paramount Pictures and director, Cecil B. DeMille, as chief artist, set and costume designer for the motion picture, The Ten Commandments.
1956: Nomination for Academy Award for Costume Design.
1958: Made a member of the Royal Society of Arts.
1959: Publication of Arnold Friberg's Little Christmas Book
1968-9: Commissioned by Chevrolet Motor Company, a division of General Motors, to do a series of four (4) paintings for the 100th Anniversary of Intercollegiate Football. These paintings depicted the most famous games in the history of American intercollegiate football and were used during the 1969 advertising campaign.
1972: Commissioned to paint a life-size portrait of Prince Charles. Mr. Stuart M. Hodgeson first proposed the idea of doing the royal portrait of His Royal Highness (HRH) The Prince of Wales and his horse, Centennial (great-grandson of Man o' War), at the 100th anniversary of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in Yellowknife, Canada.
1975: The Prayer at Valley Forge
1977: Commissioned by Steven A. Wynn, owner of The Golden Nugget Casino, LV to paint a saloon, Winners and Losers.
1978: Friberg traveled to London. Queen Elizabeth II granted Friberg permission to stay at Buckingham Palace to paint the royal portrait of HRH The Prince of Wales.
1979: Unveiling of the portrait of HRH The Prince of Wales.
1980: Commissioned by the US Postal Service to depict the Salt Lake Temple for the Historic Preservation Series. This was the fourth in the series which began in 1977 and featured historically significant American buildings. The first was the Galveston, Texas, Court House, in 1978 was the Cincinnati, Ohio, Music Hall, 1979 was the Iolani Palace in Honolulu Hawaii.
1985: Publication of Arnold Friberg: The Passion of a Modern Master by Ted Schwarz.
1986: The Ten Commandments paintings included in an exhibition honoring the 100th year of Hollywood.
1988: Married Heidi Wales in a ceremony with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police
1992: Commissioned a second time to paint the Royal Family. This painting was an equestrian portrait of Queen Elizabeth II and her horse Centennial. Spent another six weeks residing in the Buckingham Palace in diligent preparatory sittings and studies.
1994: Unveiling of Queen Elizabeth II at the Commonwealth Games in Victoria, BC with her Majesty. Friberg Fine Art opens.
2002: The Prayer at Valley Forge on display at the Utah State Capitol for the 2002 Winter Olympics along with the Declaration of Independence.
2006: The Ten Commandment exhibition at the West Valley Cultural Center for the 50th Anniversary of the Motion Picture.
2008: The Prayer at Valley Forge on display as part of the 225th Anniversary of the Treaty of Paris at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art.
2009: The Prayer at Valley Forge on display for four years at Mount Vernon.
2010: Deceased, July 1st.