Danquart Anthon Weggeland, known as Dan (March 31, 1827 – June 2, 1918) was an artist and teacher in the early

Utah Territory The Territory of Utah was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from September 9, 1850, until January 4, 1896, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Utah, the 45th st ...

. He was sometimes referred to as the "Father of Utah Art".Danquart A. Weggeland
Utah Artists Project.

Richard L. Jensen Richard Louis Jensen (born 1943) is an American historian who specializes in the study of the 19th-century Latter Day Saint movement in Europe and of 19th-century European Latter Day Saint immigrants in the United States. Jensen received his Bache ...

“The Friendly Invasion,”
''

Ensign Ensign most often refers to: * Ensign (flag), a flag flown on a vessel to indicate nationality * Ensign (rank), a navy (and former army) officer rank Ensign or The Ensign may also refer to: Places * Ensign, Alberta, Alberta, Canada * Ensign, Ka ...

'', July 1974, p. 46.

Biography

He was born in the city of

Kristiansand Kristiansand is a city and Municipalities of Norway, municipality in Agder county, Norway. The city is the fifth-largest and the municipality is the sixth-largest in Norway, with a population of around 116,000 as of January 2020, following th ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

. At age sixteen, he began studying with a portrait painter in Christiania and, at the age of twenty, went to

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

, where he eventually studied at the Danish Royal Academy of Art. After two years in Copenhagen, he returned to Christiania, where he worked as a portrait painter and did some work for theatres. In 1854, he was introduced to

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Restorationism, restorationist Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, denomination and the ...

(LDS Church). One of his main teachers was a

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group who is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thoma ...

who had also attended the Royal Academy of Art, C. C. A. Christensen. After being

baptized Baptism (from ) is a Christian sacrament of initiation almost invariably with the use of water. It may be performed by sprinkling or pouring water on the head, or by immersing in water either partially or completely, traditionally three ...

as a member of the LDS Church, he moved to

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. There, He served as a church missionary from 1857 to 1861. He then went to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, where he studied with Daniel Huntington and

George Peter Alexander Healy George Peter Alexander Healy (July 15, 1813 – June 24, 1894) was an American portrait painter. He was one of the most prolific and popular painters of his day, and his sitters included many of the eminent personages of his time. Born in Boston, ...

. He went to

Florence, Nebraska Florence was a historic municipality in Nebraska. Founded in 1854, the Nebraska Territory Legislature first incorporated it as a town in 1855 and then incorporated it as a city in 1857. In 1917, it was annexed by the City of Omaha and ceased ...

in 1862, from which he left in August for

. He journeyed there in the Henry W. Miller Company of

Mormon pioneers The Mormon pioneers were members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), also known as Latter-day Saints, who Human migration, migrated beginning in the mid-1840s until the late-1860s across the United States from the ...

. He made numerous sketches along the way. During his early days in Utah Territory, he would occasionally trade a painting for a pair of well-knit socks.J. Michael Hunter, "Storytellers: Scandinavians Art told of Restoration", ''

Church News The ''Church News'' (formerly ''LDS Church News'') is a multi-platform supplement and subdivision of the ''Deseret News'', a Salt Lake City, Utah newspaper owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (informally, the LDS Church). ...

'' January 22, 2000 His first major artistic work in Utah was his joint commission with his mentor, Christensen, to do a series of paintings from the

Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...

and

Book of Mormon The Book of Mormon is a religious text of the Latter Day Saint movement, first published in 1830 by Joseph Smith as ''The Book of Mormon: An Account Written by the Hand of Mormon upon Plates Taken from the Plates of Nephi''. The book is one of ...

. This commission came from

Dimick B. Huntington Dimick Baker Huntington (May 26, 1808 – February 1, 1879) was a leading Indian interpreter in early Utah Territory. He commissioned a 22-foot-long missionary panorama of C. C. A. Christensen to use in his presentations of the gospel to the Na ...

. He made many paintings involving

. He also did murals for the

St. George Saint George (;Geʽez: ጊዮርጊስ, , ka, გიორგი, , , died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was an early Christian martyr who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to holy tradition, he was a soldier in the ...

, Manti,

Logan Logan may refer to: Places * Mount Logan (disambiguation) Australia * Logan (Queensland electoral district), an electoral district in the Queensland Legislative Assembly * Logan, Victoria, small locality near St. Arnaud * Logan City, local gove ...

and

Salt Lake A salt lake or saline lake is a landlocked body of water that has a concentration of salts (typically sodium chloride) and other dissolved minerals significantly higher than most lakes (often defined as at least three grams of salt per liter). I ...

Temples A temple (from the Latin ) is a place of worship, a building used for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. By convention, the specially built places of worship of some religions are commonly called "temples" in Engli ...

of the LDS Church. In addition, he served as an art instructor for most of the church's art missionaries before they went to

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. He died in

Salt Lake City, Utah Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Salt ...

. His works may be seen at the

Utah Museum of Fine Arts The Utah Museum of Fine Arts (UMFA) is a state and university art museum located in downtown Salt Lake City on the University of Utah campus. Housed in the Marcia and John Price Museum Building near Rice-Eccles Stadium, the museum holds a permane ...

Works at UMFA
/ref>

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Weggeland, Dan 1827 births 1918 deaths 19th-century Mormon missionaries Artists from Utah Converts to Mormonism Latter Day Saint artists Mormon missionaries in England Mormon pioneers Norwegian emigrants to the United States Norwegian expatriates in England Norwegian Latter Day Saints Norwegian Mormon missionaries People from Kristiansand

Biography

References

Further reading

External links