Latter-day Saint Art

The first expert critical treatment of Mormon visual art, featuring over 200 high-quality color illustrations Nearly every major religion has a significant artistic tradition, and religion's relationship with art--sometimes inspirational, sometimes antagonistic, often complex--has generated a substantial body of writing stretching back centuries. In its nearly two centuries of existence, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has produced, inspired, and provoked a wide range of artistic responses. Yet that artistic output has not generated a commensurate amount of critical examination. Latter-day Saint Art: A Critical Reader seeks to fill a substantial gap by providing a comprehensive examination of the visual art of the Latter-day Saints from the nineteenth century to the present. It defines Mormon art broadly as art by, for, or about Mormons, including work by artists who share a Latter-day Saint identity and by those with no personal attachment who have responded artistically to Mormonism. The volume includes twenty-two essays by scholars from various disciplines, perspectives, and backgrounds who offer rigorous research and analysis of Latter-day Saint artistic production and culture alongside elegant reproductions of more than 200 works of Mormon art, including panorama paintings, quilts, architecture, sculpture, and cartoons, to film, gallery installations, indigenous works and more. Latter-day Saint Art: A Critical Reader explores Mormon visual art in unprecedented breadth and depth.

Amanda Beardsley is the Cayleff and Sakai Faculty Scholar in Women's Studies at San Diego State University. Mason Allred is assistant professor of communication, media, and culture at Brigham Young University-Hawaii.