Walter Rane (born 1949) is an American painter and illustrator known for book illustrations and religious art. Rane was born in National City, California and raised in Southern California. He obtained a

Bachelor of Fine Arts A Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) is a standard undergraduate degree for students pursuing a professional education in the visual arts, Fine art, or performing arts. In some instances, it is also called a Bachelor of Visual Arts (BVA). Background ...

at the

Art Center College of Design The ArtCenter College of Design is a private art college in Pasadena, California. It was incorporated in 1930 as a degree-granting institution of higher learning in the US created specifically for students of both the visual arts and design. ...

Pasadena, California Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commerci ...

.Merritt, Brett
"Book of Mormon stories: Paintings depict tender scenes of scripture"
'' Daily Herald (Utah)'', 4 September 2004. Retrieved on 9 April 2021.

Career

Rane began his career as a book and magazine illustrator in

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 ...

.Gagon, Dave
"Painting sacred stories"
''

Deseret News The ''Deseret News'' () is a multi-platform newspaper based in Salt Lake City, published by Deseret News Publishing Company, a subsidiary of Deseret Management Corporation, which is owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS ...

'', 12 September 2000. Retrieved on 9 April 2021. Some of his clients were

Random House Random House is an imprint and publishing group of Penguin Random House. Founded in 1927 by businessmen Bennett Cerf and Donald Klopfer as an imprint of Modern Library, it quickly overtook Modern Library as the parent imprint. Over the foll ...

Reader's Digest ''Reader's Digest'' is an American general-interest family magazine, published ten times a year. Formerly based in Chappaqua, New York, it is now headquartered in midtown Manhattan. The magazine was founded in 1922 by DeWitt Wallace and his wi ...

Bantam Books Bantam Books is an American publishing house owned entirely by parent company Random House, a subsidiary of Penguin Random House; it is an imprint of the Random House Publishing Group. It was formed in 1945 by Walter B. Pitkin Jr., Sidney B. K ...

, and

National Geographic ''National Geographic'' (formerly ''The National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as ''Nat Geo'') is an American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. The magazine was founded in 1888 as a scholarly journal, nine ...

. Rane illustrated ''Meet Kit: An American Girl'' by Valerie Tripp, ''Recapitulation'' by Wallace Stegner, and ''In This Our Life'' by

Ellen Glasgow Ellen Anderson Gholson Glasgow (April 22, 1873 – November 21, 1945) was an American novelist who won the Pulitzer Prize for the Novel in 1942 for her novel In This Our Life (novel), ''In This Our Life''. She published 20 novels, as well as shor ...

. He also illustrated the Franklin Library 1978 edition of

William Faulkner William Cuthbert Faulkner (; September 25, 1897 – July 6, 1962) was an American writer. He is best known for William Faulkner bibliography, his novels and short stories set in the fictional Yoknapatawpha County, Mississippi, a stand-in fo ...

's ''Absalom, Absalom'', and the 1980 edition of

Walker Percy Walker Percy, Oblate of Saint Benedict, OblSB (May 28, 1916 – May 10, 1990) was an American writer whose interests included philosophy and semiotics. Percy is noted for his philosophical novels set in and around New Orleans; his first, ''Th ...

's ''The Moviegoer''.

LDS Church art

In the early 1990s

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) asked him to begin creating works of art on religious themes. Many of his works depict scenes described in the

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 ...

while others focus on events in the life of

Jesus Christ Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...

. He also painted events from the life of

Joseph Smith Joseph Smith Jr. (December 23, 1805June 27, 1844) was an American religious and political leader and the founder of Mormonism and the Latter Day Saint movement. Publishing the Book of Mormon at the age of 24, Smith attracted tens of thou ...

. Rane's work has appeared in the LDS Church's International Art Competition seven times. In 2002, Rane was commissioned by

Deseret Book Deseret Book () is an American publishing company headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, that also operates a chain of bookstores throughout the western United States. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Deseret Management Corporation (DMC), th ...

to paint 17 original oil paintings for the book ''By the Hand of Mormon'' depicting scenes from the Book of Mormon. One painting from the series, an image of the empty tomb titled ''He is Not Here'', has become one of Rane's most recognizable works. Rane painted a large mural at the LDS Visitors Center at Winter Quarters in Omaha, Nebraska. Some of his original paintings appear in the

LDS Conference Center The Conference Center, in Salt Lake City, Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, is the premier meeting hall for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). Completed in 2000, the 21,000-seat Conference Center replaced the traditional u ...

, the Relief Society Building, and the Church Office Building.

Personal life

Rane and his wife, Linda, are the parents of four children and live in New York City, NY. Rane is a member of the LDS Church.

Awards and honors

In 2006 Rane was the recipient of the Associate Directors Award at the 21st annual Spiritual and Religious Arts Show at the Springville Museum of Art. His work is included in the permanent collections of the Church History Museum, the Springville Museum of Art, and Southern Virginia University. In 2013, his work was showcased at the 10th Annual Shenandoah Invitational Art Gala at Southern Virginia University.King, Hannah
"10th Annual Art Gala to Feature Walter Rane"
'' Southern Virginia University'', 16 September 2013. Retrieved on 9 April 2021.

References

External links

Walter Rane
Official Website
Walter Rane Fine Art Prints
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rane, Walter Living people 1949 births American Latter Day Saints ArtCenter College of Design alumni American illustrators Latter Day Saint artists Artists from Salem, Oregon