Carl Christian Anton Christensen
Encyclopedia
Early life
C.C.A. Christensen was born in CopenhagenCopenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
, Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
and studied at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen. On January 26, 1850 he joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He was baptized
Baptism
In Christianity, baptism is for the majority the rite of admission , almost invariably with the use of water, into the Christian Church generally and also membership of a particular church tradition...
by George P. Dykes. Christensen subsequently served as a missionary
Mormon missionary
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is one of the most active modern practitioners of missionary work, with over 52,000 full-time missionaries worldwide, as of the end of 2010...
in his native Denmark.
He also served as a missionary in Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
. While in Norway Christensen was the first Mormon missionary to go to Christiania (now Oslo
Oslo
Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...
). While in Christiana Christensen taught the gospel to Danquart Anthon Weggeland, who was another prominent early Utah artist.
At the end of his service in Norway Christensen set off for Utah, going first to England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, in 1857. He had met Elsie Scheel Haarby while serving in Norway, and he and Elsie married in England. They had planned to wait until reaching Utah to get married but leaders felt the trip would be easier if engaged couples got married before starting the journey.
and they sailed for America on the Westmoreland. After reaching New York, they traveled by railroad to Iowa City, Iowa
Iowa City, Iowa
Iowa City is a city in Johnson County, State of Iowa. As of the 2010 Census, the city had a total population of about 67,862, making it the sixth-largest city in the state. Iowa City is the county seat of Johnson County and home to the University of Iowa...
, the end of the line, and from there set out for Utah, traveling with the Christian Christiansen handcart company
Mormon handcart pioneers
The Mormon handcart pioneers were participants in the migration of members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to Salt Lake City, Utah, who used handcarts to transport their belongings...
.
Painting
In 1862 Christensen did stage painting for a theatre in Springville, UtahSpringville, Utah
Springville is a city in Utah County, Utah, United States. It is part of the Provo–Orem, Utah Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 20,424 at the 2000 census, while the 2008 estimates placed it at 28,520. Just minutes south of Provo, Springville is a bedroom community for...
.
The first major art work that Christensen undertook while in Utah was a commission from Dimick B. Huntington
Dimick B. Huntington
Dimick Baker Huntington was a leading Indian interpreter in early Utah Territory. He also commissioned the Church History Panorama of C. C. A. Christensen to use in his presentations of the gospel to the Native Americans....
to do a collection of paintings from the Bible
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
and Book of Mormon
Book of Mormon
The Book of Mormon is a sacred text of the Latter Day Saint movement that adherents believe contains writings of ancient prophets who lived on the American continent from approximately 2600 BC to AD 421. It was first published in March 1830 by Joseph Smith, Jr...
, 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
Book of Mormon
The Book of Mormon is a sacred text of the Latter Day Saint movement that adherents believe contains writings of ancient prophets who lived on the American continent from approximately 2600 BC to AD 421. It was first published in March 1830 by Joseph Smith, Jr...
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 (53.3 m)-long Mormon panorama in 1878. Christensen would transport it about Utah
Utah
Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
, Idaho
Idaho
Idaho is a state in the Rocky Mountain area of the United States. The state's largest city and capital is Boise. Residents are called "Idahoans". Idaho was admitted to the Union on July 3, 1890, as the 43rd state....
and Wyoming
Wyoming
Wyoming is a state in the mountain region of the Western United States. The western two thirds of the state is covered mostly with the mountain ranges and rangelands in the foothills of the Eastern Rocky Mountains, while the eastern third of the state is high elevation prairie known as the High...
, 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
Boyd K. Packer
Boyd Kenneth Packer is an American educator and religious leader, and the current president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints . He served as Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve from 1994 to 2008, and has been an apostle and member of...
. It would gain its fullest recognition almost a century latter when it would be showed at the Whitney Museum of American Art
Whitney Museum of American Art
The Whitney Museum of American Art, often referred to simply as "the Whitney", is an art museum with a focus on 20th- and 21st-century American art. Located at 945 Madison Avenue at 75th Street in New York City, the Whitney's permanent collection contains more than 18,000 works in a wide variety of...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
.
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
Dan Weggeland
Danquart Anthon Weggeland is considered the "Father of Utah Art" and was an artist and teacher in the early history of Utah.-Biography:Weggeland was born in the city of Christiansand , Norway...
in his work in Utah.
Other Utah activities
During his first days in Utah, Christensen found little time to paint. He did various odd jobs such as laying brick and burning charcoal as well as farming.Christensen translated the lyrics of many LDS hymns into Danish. Some of his translated texts are still in use. Christensen also wrote poetry and contributed to Bikuben. Latter he would serve as an editor of that publication. He was also a coauthor of the History of the Scandinavian Mission.
Christensen was an instructor in drawing and Danish at the Sanpete Stake Academy (now Snow College
Snow College
Snow College is a rural, two-year state college located in Ephraim, Utah, U.S. It offers certificates and associate degrees in a number of areas...
).
Christensen served a second mission from 1865-1868. He went on a mission to Denmark from 1887-1889 during which he worked as the editor of the Scandinaviens Stjerne.
Rediscovery
In 1976, in a speech given at Brigham Young UniversityBrigham Young University
Brigham Young University is a private university located in Provo, Utah. It is owned and operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints , and is the United States' largest religious university and third-largest private university.Approximately 98% of the university's 34,000 students...
, LDS apostle Boyd K. Packer
Boyd K. Packer
Boyd Kenneth Packer is an American educator and religious leader, and the current president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints . He served as Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve from 1994 to 2008, and has been an apostle and member of...
recounted the rediscovery of Christensen's work:
Christensen's 1900 painting Handcart Pioneers (not part of Mormon Panorama) "has become the most widely published painting of the Mormon pioneer experience by an actual pioneer."