Feature Story: Carl Bloch Exhibit

Carole Smith drives from Draper to Provo every week to volunteer, taking tickets and directing people into a panorama film room. Upon entering, images of the Demark countryside, the inside of a cathedral leading up to the altar, and beautiful paintings of Christ flash across the screen. Then, a phrase lingers: “These paintings have traveled here, across time, and across the world. Now you are a part of their story.” 

“I love the art,” Smith said. “That’s why I’m here.” 

Smith is a volunteer at the Museum of Art, which is currently offering visitors a chance to see “Carl Bloch: The Master’s Hand.” This exhibit is open through May and showcases a collection of the artist’s work, including five altar pieces and various other religious, historical, and secular pieces that were gathered from churches and establishments in Sweden and Denmark. 

Some exhibit patrons carried iPads around with them, an additional tour feature, while others simply pondered the rooms of colorful paintings. Two young girls knelt on the ground with their arms around each other, pointing at a collection from Christ’s life. Many of the patrons were visibly moved.

This was the case for Carol Bonnett and Judy Mortenson, Utah residents and longtime friends. Sitting in front of Bloch’s painting depicting Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane, Mortenson wiped away tears and put her arm around Bonnett. 

“I feel a reverence being here,” Mortenson said. 

Mortenson said that the painting contrasted the hardness of the world with the light of the Savior and showed the tenderness of Christ’s love. “He didn’t know it would be so hard,” Mortenson said, “but he did it anyway.”

Bonnett said it there was trouble in securing the paintings for the exhibit, causing them to almost not arrive. “It’s really a miracle that they’re here,” she said. 

Outside of the exhibit, Smith enjoys asking patrons about their experience. “I haven’t run into anyone that didn’t love it,” Smith said.

When asked about her weekly drive, Smith said, “you have to fuel your passions.”

**This story was written for a BYU media writing class the Winter 2011 semester.