I'm a total cheater. Today is Friday, but instead of photos I'm posting a painting, not only because I need to dust off my camera and start taking some pictures again but also because this Sunday is Easter and so I thought it would be appropriate.
A glut of paintings depicting Jesus Christ are out there. For my taste, most are too sentimental and some are too gruesome. Often I prefer the straightforward ones by Harry Anderson. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints commissioned some art from him in the 1970s (a fact I found on a Web site which worded it, "Harry Anderson did several paintings for the Mormons." Is "the Mormons" funny to anyone else?) and so lots of Harry Anderson prints can be found hanging in LDS church buildings. My favorite is Calling of the Fishermen, which depicts Jesus gesturing to several fishermen at the shore of the Sea of Galilee. Peter, Andrew, James, and John left successful businesses to devote their lives to following Jesus.
A detail of Christ and the Children (above) hangs in Theo's room. He has recognized it since he could talk, and he still points it out from time to time: "Jesus! Boy!" I know that Jesus Christ lived and died on the earth, that He lives today, and that He knows each of us. As my favorite guy Neal A. Maxwell said: God, as well as Jesus Christ, "has known you individually for a long, long time. He has loved you for a long, long time. He not only knows the names of all the stars; He knows your names and all your heartaches and your joys!" I hope I can teach Theo to recognize that, and I hope that he remembers it always.
Happy Easter!
It sounds like we have the same feelings about depictions of the Savior. Thanks for this Easter post!
ReplyDeleteI love this one.
ReplyDeleteOkay, I'm joking. That just falls in the "too sentimental" and maybe even "gruesome" category...
Interesting. Did you read his little blurb about it? He said that initially a lot of people don't like it. I also don't really like it. But maybe it would grow on me with time? I'm thinking not, but I don't know! I feel like a tiny bit like it's almost a parody of the same artist's famous portrait called Jesus the Christ. I mean obviously it's not a parody--especially since they're both by the same artist--but it seems to have elements of that in it, probably because the more serious image is so familiar to me. Does that make sense?
ReplyDeleteOf the two, the more serious image is the one I relate to better, although it can seem severe. I don't think it is severe though; I find it compelling. Maybe this is far too personal to be talking about on a generally light-hearted blog, but the painting Jesus the Christ always brings to my mind Isaiah 53: "...a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief. Sure he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows..."
I hope no one interpreted my remark about not connecting with many images of Jesus as somehow making light of the connections that others feel. I know that art affects everyone in different ways, and what I might find overly sentimental might be very meaningful to someone else, just as what moves me might not touch another person at all.
Possibly my favorite portrait of the Savior is the detail from Christ and the Rich Young Ruler by Heinrich Hofmann. I relate to the story of the rich young ruler, so I wonder if that is one reason why I like that painting so much.
ummm...sorry, it's supposed to be "surely he hath borne our griefs," not "sure."
ReplyDeletehahahaha. "Sure!"
ReplyDeleteWell said - love brothe neal as well. Happy easter!
ReplyDelete