James Taylor Harwood

Biographical Summary:

"...James Taylor Harwood. Born 8 April 1860 to James and Sarah Jane Taylor Harwood in Lehi, Utah, artist James Taylor Harwood is well known among Latter-day Saints for his paintings of Christ. Adoration of the Ages, an oil painted in 1903, features many people worshipping Jesus throughout the ages. Another oil painting, Come Follow Me, was commissioned by the Sunday School organization of the Church and features Christ beckoning from the shore to two men in a boat.

James Harwood received a name and a blessing at his birth, and while three of his sisters joined the Church, he was never baptized a member of the Church or belonged to any other church except for what he referred to as his “church of one.” Yet he always seemed to have some affection for the Latter-day Saints. In his autobiography, A Basket of Chips, he describes President Heber J. Grant as “a good, kind, appreciative man, [who] was instrumental in the purchase of the rather large oil The Wasatch Range to represent me in the Salt Lake Temple.” He also entitled two of his etchings Eighteenth Ward Chapel by Moonlight and Temple, Tabernacle, and Assembly Hall.

During James Harwood’s teenage years, a fascination with the life of Christ led him to a friendship and apprenticeship with some of Utah’s pioneer artists, including Alfred Lambourne and Dan Weggeland. He furthered his art education in California and in Europe, married Harriet Richards, and had five children. James and Harriet traveled extensively before she died in 1922, after which James returned to Utah to become head of the Art Department at the University of Utah. He later married Ione Godwin, and they had two children.

James Harwood died 16 October 1940 at the age of eighty, leaving a legacy of paintings that Latter-day Saints have found uplifting and inspirational..."

SOURCE: http://lds.org/ensign/1990/10/i-have-a-question?lang=eng

Additional Info:

http://www.lib.utah.edu/collections/utah-artists/UAP-James-Harwood.php

• Updated from MyHeritage Match by SmartCopy: Oct 15 2014, 4:01:27 UTC