J. Kirk Richards

Last updated

Joel Kirk Richards (born 1976) is an American artist who specializes in Judeo-Christian themes.

Richards was raised in Provo, Utah. He studied at Brigham Young University under Bruce Smith, Hagen Haltern, Gary Barton, James Christensen, Wulf Barsch and Joe Ostraff. He served a two-year mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) in Italy. He later studied under Patrick Devonas in New Jersey.

Richards and his wife Amy Tolk are the parents of four children.

Much of Richards's work focuses on the life of Jesus. Another of his works is "The Carriers", which relates to the rescue of the Martin Handcart Company. [1]

Richards's images were included in Helen Whitney’s 2007 PBS Frontline documentary entitled "The Mormons". Publications that have used Richards's artwork include the Ensign and Liahona magazines, BYU Studies , and the interdenominational Upper Room magazine.

Richards's work has been shown at the Springville Museum of Art; the Renaissance Center Juried Show in Nashville, Tennessee; the Provo Arts Council Freedom Festival Fine Art Exhibit; the Bountiful/Davis Art Center; at Southern Virginia University as part of its Annual Shenandoah Invitational Art Show; at the Robert N. & Peggy Sears Dixie State Invitational Art Shows in St. George, Utah; and the Museum of Church History and Art.

Related Research Articles

James C. Christensen was an American illustrator and painter of religious and fantasy art.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mahonri Young</span> American sculptor

Mahonri Mackintosh Young was an American social-realist sculptor and artist. During his lengthy career, he created more than 320 sculptures, 590 oil paintings, 5,500 watercolors, 2,600 prints, and thousands of drawings. However, he is primarily recognized for his sculpture. His work includes landscapes, portraits, busts, life-size sculptures, monuments, and engravings. Regardless of his medium of choice, his work is characterized by spontaneity; he often preferred to prepare his work with quick sketches on the scene. He felt this made his work more natural as compared to using a model in the studio. He was fairly commercially successful during his life, though he did not find success until his mid-30s. Large commissions for sculptures from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints were particularly lucrative for him.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lee Greene Richards</span> American painter

Lee Greene Richards was a famous Utah portrait artist. Many of his works can be found at the City and County Building in Salt Lake City, Utah.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Edward Anderson</span> American photographer

George Edward Anderson was an early American photographer known for his portraiture and documentary photographs of early historical sites of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and Utah settlements.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">C. C. A. Christensen</span>

Carl Christian Anton Christensen was a Danish-American artist who is known for his paintings illustrating the history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Of him it has been said that he "did more than any other person to capture the images of the history of Mormon migration to Utah and the life lived there".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LeConte Stewart</span>

LeConte Stewart was a Latter-day Saint artist primarily known for his landscapes of rural Utah. His media included oils, watercolors, pastel and charcoal, as well as etchings, linocuts, and lithographs. His home/studio in Kaysville, Utah is on the National Register of Historic Places.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Minerva Teichert</span> American painter

Minerva Bernetta Kohlhepp Teichert was a 20th-century American painter notable for her art depicting Western and Mormon subjects, including a collection of murals depicting scenes from the Book of Mormon. Teichert received her art education from the Art Institute of Chicago and the Art Students League of New York. Teichert was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Other religious-themed artwork she is known for include Christ in a Red Robe, Queen Esther, and Rescue of the Lost Lamb. Additionally, Teichert painted 42 murals related to stories in the Book of Mormon which reside in Brigham Young University's (BYU) Museum of Art. She was the first woman invited to paint a mural for an LDS Church temple.

Fred Emmett Woods IV is a Brigham Young University professor of Latter-day Saint Church History and Mormon Doctrine, an author specializing in Mormon migration and the Globalization of Mormonism.

Richard Charles Neitzel Holzapfel is a former professor of Church History and Doctrine at Brigham Young University (BYU) and an author on topics related to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Western and Utah History, and the New Testament. As of 2018, Holzapfel is working in the LDS Church's Missionary Department as a senior manager.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Avard Fairbanks</span> American sculptor

Avard Tennyson Fairbanks was a 20th-century American sculptor. Over his eighty-year career, he sculpted over 100 public monuments and hundreds of artworks. Fairbanks is known for his religious-themed commissions for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints including the Three Witnesses, Tragedy of Winter Quarters, and several Angel Moroni sculptures on LDS temple spires. Additionally, Fairbanks sculpted over a dozen Abraham Lincoln-themed sculptures and busts among which the most well-known reside in the U.S. Supreme Court Building and Ford's Theatre Museum.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Hafen</span>

John Hafen was a Swiss-born American artist, primarily of landscapes and portraits.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brian Kershisnik</span> American painter

Brian T. Kershisnik is an American painter. He studied art at the University of Utah, Brigham Young University (BYU), and the University of Texas at Austin. He lives in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Richard Lloyd Anderson was an American lawyer and theologist of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who was a professor of church history and doctrine at Brigham Young University (BYU). His book Investigating the Book of Mormon Witnesses is widely considered the definitive work on this subject. Anderson was the brother of Karl Ricks Anderson.

Delwin Oliver "Del" Parson is an American painter who is well known for his Latter-day Saint-themed paintings. His painting of Jesus, "Christ in Red Robe," is recognizable from its wide use by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Utah</span> LDS Church and its members in Utah

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Utah refers to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its members in Utah. Utah has more church members than any other U.S. state or country. The LDS Church is also the largest denomination in Utah.

Franz Mark Johansen was a Latter-day Saint sculptor and an emeritus professor at Brigham Young University (BYU). He has been called the founder of the LDS contemporary art movement that expresses spiritual belief through the human form.

Walter Rane is an American painter and illustrator known for book illustrations and religious art.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mormon art</span>

Mormon art comprises all visual art created to depict the principles and teachings of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, as well as art deriving from the inspiration of an artist's LDS religious views. Mormon art includes painting, sculpture, quilt work, photography, graphic art, and other mediums, and shares common attributes reflecting Latter-day Saint teachings and values.

John Leo Hafen was an American photographer and artist and the first person to bring color photography to Utah. Attending school in Springville, Utah, and Salt Lake City, Hafen experimented with different art forms. He received the Utah Arts Council Award for Best Amateur Work in Photography in 1899. He also won an award at the Art Institute in 1907 and won a Special Merit award from Desert Magazine in 1940. He co-owned the Olsen and Hafen photographic gallery in Provo, Utah, and toured with photographer George Edward Anderson. In 1908, Hafen married Daisy Marie Nelson, who died in childbirth in 1908. One year later, Hafen married Ella Lowry and had five children with her. A member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Hafen was excommunicated for his involvement with the West Tintic Branch, whose members were found guilty of practicing "wife sacrifice", a form of wife swapping which they considered to be religiously justified.

Rita Wright is an American museum director and art historian. Since 2012, Wright has been the director of the Springville Museum of Art. Before joining the Springville Museum of Art she was Curator of Art and Artifacts at the Church History Museum in Salt Lake City, UT. She sits on the worldwide committee for art selection for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

References