Painting
In 1862 Christensen did stage painting for a theatre in Springville, Utah. Early in his time in Utah he could find so little demand for his artistic skills that he worked as a housepainter.
The first major art work that Christensen undertook while in Utah was a commission from Dimick B. Huntington to do a collection of paintings from the Bible and Book of Mormon, in collaboration with Dan Weggeland.
Christensen is best known for his Mormon Panorama, a series of 23 large paintings that depict the history of the church. Christensen also painted scenes from the Book of Mormon such as Nephi and Zoram Return with the Record. There was a whole series of Book of Mormon paintings. They were originally issued by the Sunday School for use in classrooms and were latter issued in lithography form.
Christensen began touring with the 175 feet (53 m)-long Mormon panorama in 1878. Christensen would transport it about Utah, Idaho and Wyoming, giving presentations along with the panorama. He did this during the winter when he was not busy working on his farm. After Christensen's death the panorama was stored away. Many years latter it was discovered again and brought back to light, partly by the efforts of Boyd K. Packer. It would gain its fullest recognition almost a century latter when it would be showed at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City.
Christensen also painted some of the murals in the Manti and St. George Temples. Christensen also did paintings for the Manti Tabernacle.
Another theme of some of Christensen's paintings was Manti and its surroundings.
Christensen often collaborated with Dan Weggeland in his work in Utah.
Read more about this topic: Carl Christian Anton Christensen
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