Arnold Friberg, artist known for Washington painting, dies

SALT LAKE CITY - Arnold Friberg, a Utah artist best known for his painting of George Washington in prayer at Valley Forge, died Thursday, his family said. He was 96.

Jayna Friberg-Cleamons said her father-in-law died in Salt Lake City following hip replacement surgery.

Friberg, a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, also painted portraits of figures from the Book of Mormon. "He didn't want to be known as a Mormon artist," Friberg-Cleamons said. "He just wants to be defined as an artist that painted a wide range of things."

Friberg-Cleamons said Friberg became an expert in any subject area he depicted, from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to the history of college football. "The Prayer at Valley Forge," which he created to commemorate the United States' bicentennial in 1976, is displayed at the Mount Vernon estate in Virginia. It depicts Washington kneeling in the snow beside his horse. - AP