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Torleif S. Knaphus

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Knaphus in his studio, posing with his 1947 Handcart Monument

Torlief Soviren Knaphus (1881-1965) was a Norwegian born artist and sculptor in Utah, primarily know for sculptures for and about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Early life

  • Born 14 December 1881 in Vats, Rogaland, Norway
  • "At age fourteen Torleif took out an apprenticeship in a paint and decorating shop in Haugesund"; at 17 went to sea for a year; then "completed his apprenticeship in “decoration painting,” earning his master’s slip, which entitled him to be bonded and open his own shop."
  • "[H]e was accepted for study under Harriet Backer at her famous art school (in Oslo), he also attended the Royal Art School where he learned sculpturing from Lars Utne ..."
  • While in Oslo, converted to Mormonism in 1902, and after completing his studies, migrated to Salt Lake City in 1906
  • There married Helena “Millie” Christensen in the Salt Lake Temple in 1909
  • Moved to Sanpete County, and painted houses with his brother to support the family
  • When his brother was called to serve as a Missionary (LDS Church), he decided to get more art training in 1913, where he studied sculpting in Paris at the Académie Julian for a year.
  • after completing studies in Paris, spent six months in New York and Chicago studying at the Art Students' League to obtain additional skills in sculpting monuments.

Works

Handcart Monument

The Handcart Monument on Temple Square
  • Daughters of the Utah Handcart Pioneers commissioned in 1924
  • started with a five-inch-high scale clay model
  • copied this to a three-foot-high bronze
  • Unveiled 25 September 1926 by Heber J. Grant
  • Guests of honor at unveiling included handcart pioneers Alfred Burningham and Michael Jensen
  • Work was kept inside the old Temple Square Bureau of Information building
  • "[I]n 1938 Church leaders commissioned Torleif to make a heroic size copy for the pioneer centennial. By 1942 he finished the huge clay model and had the monument cast in bronze in New York. In 1947 the larger-than-life statue was unveiled on Temple Square"
  • Coralville, Iowa copy by sculptor Stanley J. Watts.

Hill Cumorah Monument

When Knaphus learned that the LDS Church had acquired the Hill Cumorah property, he decided that there need to be a memorial there. After working worked through seven designs, he presented them leaders of the LDS Church as part unsolicited offer to create a monument there. Knaphus later claimed that LDS Church's Quorum of the Twelve Apostles independently selected the same design that he had been informed through personal revelation was the correct one.

A plaque at the site describes some of the symbolism of the monument, while Knaphus's own "Description of the Hill Cumorah Monument" details more meaning behind the design. The wording on the north sided of the monument titled "Exhortation of Moroni" is the text of Moroni 10:4, which Knaphus carefully shaped by hand, just as he had the other sculpted panels. His young daughter questioned the artist for just having words on this last panel, suggesting that he do another "pretty" panel instead. His reply was: "Dear, this is the prettiest panel of all, and I hope that one day you'll come to understand, like I have, the true meaning of these special words."

The model for the body of the Angel Moroni was not used for the face; instead the model's father was selected out of a crowd, without Knaphus knowing of the relationship between the two men until they posed together for the first time.

He made two visits to the site: First was summer of 1934, with Presiding Bishop Sylvester Q. Cannon, to decide the exact placement and orientation of the monument. Second, when the monument is erected at the site, and then dedicated on 21 July 1935 by Heber J. Grant. In remarks during the ceremony David O. McKay stated "There is no monument in the world today with which greater things are associated."

Angel Moroni statues

  • "His eleven-and-a-half-foot gilded aluminum Moroni graced the top of the old Washington, D. C., chapel, perhaps the only LDS chapel to ever have a statue on its top, until that chapel was sold..." This statue is currently on display in the Church History Museum as an example of the variety of Moroni statues in use by the LDS Church, and was replicated for 3 temples in: Boston, Idaho Falls, and Atlanta (until it was hit by lightning then replaced)
  • Also Angel Moroni for the Los Angeles California Temple of a different design; this started a short trend to dipict Moroni holding the plates in statues for temples, which was followed by a couple of other artists, then stopped.

Temples

Laie Hawaii Temple

  • "During his first year back he was hired by the [LDS] Church to work on the Hawaiian Temple (constructed 1915–19). For half a year he did interior work and helped Avard Fairbanks sculpture the twelve oxen supporting the basement baptismal font."
  • touch-up painting inside the temple

Cardston Alberta Temple

  • "Soon another new temple, this one at Cardston, Alberta (constructed 1913–23), required his skills. There he carefully crafted the model for the baptismal oxen. In later years he judged this to be his all-time favorite font creation. Then, when temple exterior work began, he returned to Cardston and sculptured a large bas relief ... “Christ the Fountainhead.” It depicts the Savior and the Samaritan woman at the well..."

Mesa Arizona Temple

  • "For the Arizona Temple, dedicated in 1927, Torleif produced ... [t]he twelve terra cotta (baked clay) oxen beneath the baptismal font ... [and] the eight detailed friezes ... forming an ornamental band around the tops of the north and south outside walls."

Idaho Falls Idaho Temple

  • Oxen and font

Los Angeles California Temple

  • assisted with sculpture work for the temple and grounds
  • Angel Moroni

Oakland California Temple

  • helped with the baptismal font

Other works

  • Sculpture:
    • Joseph Receiving the Plates from the Angel Moroni Monument (where?)
    • "Asleep" (commissioned by a mausoleum in Los Angeles
    • "School Children’s Monument" (bronze) on Washington Square close to the west entrance of the Salt Lake City and County Building
    • numerous smaller statues: Utah Girl; Pioneer man and woman; Joan of Arc; Joy to the Hills; small "Mormon Meteor" speed car.
  • Bas reliefs:
    • Edgehill Ward meetinghouse in Sugarhouse has a replica of the "Christ the Fountainhead" bas relief on the exterior of the building and two smaller bas reliefs in the building's interior. The exterior relief is still visible on 15th East (right across from Christmas Street -- about 1750 South) and has been painted. Other locations of this relief includes: Provo Temple; and Chapels in Tremonton; Belvedere; Rose Park; Yale; Las Vegas; Wittier; and others.
    • Bingham Copper Mine relief at Kennecott Copper Mine Visitors Center
    • Mining relief at Bingham High School
    • Deseret Mortuary - "Visions"
    • small plaques: Handcart Pioneers and Covered Wagon (different sizes); Fur Traders; Restoration of the Aaronic and Melchizedek Priesthoods; and Joseph Smith Receiving the Plates.
  • Busts:
  • Decorative molding and interior painting:

Personal life

  • First wife Millie died suddenly in 1931 while there were "six children at home, the youngest just fifteen months old."
  • "He remained single for eight years, taking the youngest child to work with him and trying his best to be both father and mother to children."
  • "Then in 1940, when he was fifty-eight, he married twenty-three-year-old Rebecca Marie Jacobson. She courageously helped raise his children and in time bore him six more."
  • Died 14 June 1965
  • Buried in the Salt Lake City Cemetery

Geneology

  • At the time of his conversion to the LDS Church, Knaphus gathered names of his ancestors whose names he could take to the temple. Before emigrating, he returned to his home parish twice for a total of seven months to gather names. He returned for an additional two months after studying in Paris and before going to New York.
  • "At his funeral Elder LeGrand Richards of the Quorum of the Twelve said that he knew of no single man in the Church who had done more genealogy work than Torleif Knaphus."
  • A reporter from "Time"(or "Life"?) magazine was in his studio to interview Knaphus and asked what his greatest work was in life. The reply was that his large family pedigree chart and his family is his greatest work in life.
  • Throughout his life he gathered over 10,000 names of his Norwegian relatives - some back to the original Kings of Norway.

Memorials

  • 7 ft monument on the original Knapphus farm site in Norway including a bas relief of the Handcart Pioneers. Today, Knaphus is spelled with two "p"'s.
  • Copy of Handcart Monument (original 1/2 life size) in Norwegian Emigrant Museum (Norsk Utvandrermuseum), Hamar, Norway
  • Copy of on of his "Woman at the Well" relief in boy-hood Lutheran Vats church

Refs

  • Alder, Tom (2009), "Alder's Accounts", 15 Bytes: Utah's Art Magazine, Artists of Utah: 5 {{citation}}: |contribution= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  • Gerritsen, Allen P. (2004), "The Hill Cumorah Monument: An Inspired Creation of Torleif S. Knaphus", Journal of Book of Mormon Studies, 13 (1), Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, BYU: 124–35. As-printed format, with pictures & illustration.
  • "Utah Artists Project", Katherine W. Dumke Fine Arts & Architecture Library, J. Willard Marriott Library, University of Utah {{citation}}: |contribution= ignored (help)
  • Lloyd, R. Scott (1 February 2009), "Handcart statue to be placed in Norway museum", Deseret News
  • Gerritsen, Allen (18 September 2004), "Sculptor honored in Norway", Church News, About 150 people gathered at the farmland called Knapphus where a seven-foot tall stone memorial was placed in his honor. The monument holds a bronze bas-relief of Knaphus' most famous artwork, including the Hill Cumorah Monument in New York, the "Woman at the Well" on the Cardston Alberta Temple, the terra cotta relief around the Mesa Arizona Temple and baptismal fonts at the Oakland, Cardston, Mesa and Idaho Falls temples.
  • Lloyd, R. Scott (7 February 2009), "Sculpture bound for Norway", Church News
  • Gerritsen, Allen P. (13 June 2009), "Handcart statue placed in Norway", Church News
  • Gerritsen, Allen P. (12 June 2010), "Knaphus honored, Norway remembers famous son", Church News, Torleif S. Knaphus, the Norwegian LDS sculptor whose famous works include the "Handcart Pioneers" statue on Temple Square in Salt Lake City, has been remembered this week at the Lutheran church in Norway where his family attended prior to their conversion to Mormonism and emigration to Utah. ... [F]amily members gave a copy of one of the sculptor's bas-reliefs to the pastor and congregation to display in Brother Knaphus' boyhood church.
    The gift is a miniature of his 33-foot frieze entitled "Jesus Christ, the Fountainhead of the Church," which he completed in 1923 for the Cardston Alberta Temple. The donated piece is about 39 inches wide. The sculpture depicts Christ at the well teaching the woman from Samaria. Copies of this large relief are located in many ward meetinghouses in Utah and Nevada.
  • Hartley, William G. (1980), "Torleif Knaphus, Sculptor Saint", Ensign {{citation}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  • Oman, Richard G. (1990), "Sculpting an LDS Tradition", Ensign {{citation}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  • "Everything Creative", Mormon Channel, LDS Church {{citation}}: |contribution= ignored (help)
  • "Brigham Young Bust", Pioneer Monuments, Sons of Utah Pioneers
  • "Trail Marker" (PDF). 6 (11). Sons of Utah Pioneers. 2010: 7-8. {{cite journal}}: |contribution= ignored (help); Cite journal requires |journal= (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  • "Markers and Monuments Database", Utah State History Research Center and Collections, Utah Department of Community and Culture {{citation}}: |contribution= ignored (help)
  • "Torleif Knaphus Handcart Sculpture, Coralville, Iowa", Projects, Mormon Historic Sites Foundation, The Mormon Historic Site Foundation erected a replica of the Torleif Knaphus handcart sculpture in Coralville, Iowa near Iowa City at the local Marriot Hotel. ... A similar sculpture can be found on Temple Square in Salt Lake City, Utah. The sculpture was unveiled on September 2, 2006 in conjunction with a handcart exhibit being opened at the Johnson County Historical Society across the street.
  • Parshall, Ardis E. (2009-04-20), "Keepapitchinin (blog)", keepapitchinin.org, Alma Brockerman Wright (known chiefly for his highly colored paintings and murals) designed the frieze; Torleif S. Knaphus (who modeled the oxen supporting several temple baptismal fonts, and is the sculptor of the Hill Cumorah monument, the handcart memorial on Temple Square, ... among many other LDS works) translated those sketches into the terra cotta panels that we see today {{citation}}: |contribution= ignored (help)
  • Stack, Peggy Fletcher (17 July 2009), "A tour of historic LDS chapels in Salt Lake City", The Salt Lake Tribune, Example of a 1920s "standard plan," known as "the Colonel's Twins," because of the matching chapel and cultural hall on either side, entrance in the middle; balcony of dark wood pews; choir seats in front of pulpit; exquisite plaster decorations; three-paneled bas-relief sculpture (by prominent Utah artist Torlief Knaphus) of the Hill Cumorah, the First Vision and the Susquehanna River. {{citation}}: |contribution= ignored (help)
Headstone
  • "19th Century Salt Lake Cemeteries", Self-guided Tours, Mormon Trails Association, Knaphus, Torleif S. (L-12-18-2-E) 14 Dec 1881 - 14 June 1965
    Sculptor. Created handcart sculpture on Temple Square, pictured on stone.     {{citation}}: |contribution= ignored (help)
Books
  • Olpin, Robert, S.; Seifrit, William C.; Swanson, Vern G. (1999), Artists of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT: Gibbs Smith Publisher, ISBN 9780879059057, OCLC 40668305{{citation}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  • Swanson, Vern G; Olpin, Robert S.; Poulton, Donna; Rogers, Janie (2001), A 150 Year Survey of Utah Art, Utah Artists, Layton, UT: Gibbs Smith Publisher, ISBN 9781586851118, OCLC 47140733
  • Swanson, Vern G; Olpin, Robert S.; Seifrit, William C. (1997) [1991], Utah Painting and Sculpture (Rev. ed.), Layton, UT: Gibbs Smith Publisher, ISBN 9780879058173, OCLC 36543531

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Research notes

  • Knaphus search at Mormon Historic Sites Foundation
  • Brigham Young University Museum of Art holds some of his work; may have details about him somewhere on their website
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