Many people believe that Mormons are not Christians, but this could not be further from the truth. As a member of the Mormon church I know that Christ is the center of everything that we do in church. The official name of the Church is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Artwork in the Mormon faith can be different from that of other Christian denominations; however, the one thing that they have in common is their belief in Christ. Paintings of the Savior are important to members of the Mormon faith just as they are to other Christians.
Many other Christian faiths focus on the cross, and have many paintings or artwork of the Savior on the cross, or just the cross itself. This serves as a reminder of Christ’s sacrifice. Members of the LDS church like to focus on the living Christ, and much of their artwork shows the Savior teaching and blessing other people.
In past years, the most well known Christian Painting artists in the Mormon Church were Del Parson and Harry Anderson. Most of the religious paintings owned by Latter-day Saints were those distributed by the LDS Church. In the last ten or so years, there has been a surge of Christian artwork produced and distributed by Mormon artists.
Artists such as Greg Olsen and Liz Lemon Swindle have made their imprint by creating a new era of LDS art that can be found in many homes of those in the LDS faith. Their paintings show a great deal of emotion, have beautiful detail, and appeal to a wide audience. Doc Christensen has also created a new line of Christian Paintings by bringing Christ into modern settings through reflections in the mirror or silhouettes in the clouds.
Since Christ is the main focus of the members of the Mormon faith it only makes sense that many LDS artists want to share their love of the Savior through their artwork.