'The Master's Hand' has attracted more than 230,000 visitors to BYU exhibit
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PROVO, UTAH
Staffers at the Brigham Young University Museum of Art are approaching the final days of the popular Carl Bloch exhibit with a bittersweet mix of feelings.
Yes, they are thrilled with the public response to "Carl Bloch: The Master's Hand." Hundreds of thousands of people from across the country have made their way to the Church-owned school to view Bloch's five large altar paintings that anchor the exhibit. Such visitors have included, of course, BYU students and loyal museum regulars. But other of varied ages and backgrounds who perhaps rarely take in an art exhibit have also been drawn to the Christ-themed works of the 19th-century Danish artist.
But May 7th — the exhibit's final day — will also mark a melancholy day at the museum. The altar paintings, say staffers, have become like old friends. Watching four of the massive works return to their homes in museums and churches in Denmark and Sweden won't be easy. (The fifth altar painting, "Christ Healing the Sick at Bethesda" has become the museum's signature piece since it was acquired in 2001.)
"It will be sad to see this go," said the museum's associate director Ed Lind as he looked about the exhibit on the museum's main floor. "It has been a marvelous exhibit for us and will be remembered for a long time."
And remembered by many. Since opening last November, more than 230,000 people have taken in the by-reservation-only show. That number will certainly grow during the exhibit's last days, making "The Master's Hand" one of the museum's all-time most popular events. In its effort to accommodate as many eleventh-hour visitors as possible, the museum has extended its daily operating hours through the closing day. The museum will remain open, Monday through Saturday, until 10:30 p.m. through May 7.
Keeping the museum doors open for an extra 90 minutes will allow 5,400 more people to reserve tickets in the evening. At press time, free tickets for the expanded hours were available at carlbloch.byu.edu.
Brother Lind said "The Master's Hand" has truly become a destination exhibit for people of all faiths.
"One man who flew down from Seattle to see the show said it was the best $500 he had ever spent," he said. "The exhibit has been very well attended from the beginning, but we have seen a huge increase in the last month."
So what is it about Carl Bloch's altar paintings of the Christ that has so strongly resonated with legions of people? For one, countless Latter-day Saints had developed an affinity for the artist's tender interpretations of the Savior long before the development of the exhibit. Many of the altar paintings have been familiar to members for decades thanks to their frequent appearance in Church magazines and manuals. But each painting, added Brother Lind, also allows each viewer to appreciate his or her own personal connection to the Lord.
"Bloch had a way of painting the divinity of the Savior without diminishing his approachability — Christ was the Son of God and our Elder Brother."
Museum spokesman Christopher Wilson added visitors have been touched on a spiritual level as they take in the exhibit with family members and close friends. Bloch's altar pieces reveal a Redeemer interested and involved with a sinful world's rank-and-file. Viewers have said they could identify with nuances of each painting and find elements of themselves in the faces of those interacting with Christ.
"My experience here has reminded me that I can be a better person daily," wrote one patron on the exhibit website.
Another wrote of the emotion she felt in the presence of each Christ-themed altar painting: "I felt the Spirit as soon as I entered. Tears came to my eyes as I felt the paintings and Bloch's desire to show emotion and spirituality. Thank you, thank you for allowing me to share this with my children."
While the altar pieces are certainly the highlight of "The Master's Hand," the exhibit offers much more. Patrons take a moment's rest from the majesty of each altar piece by viewing smaller works by Bloch, including religious works, portraits, landscapes and historical paintings.
While the artwork was crafted more than a century go, the Bloch exhibit has enjoyed a decidedly modern, tech-heavy presentation. Many of the visitors have opted to rent museum iPads preloaded with an exhibit application that lends remarkable context to the paintings, offering background information and views of each altar piece in their Scandinavian homes. It's believed to be the first time an iPad app has been utilized for a major museum exhibition.
When Brother Lind walks through the exhibit on a busy weekday evening, he smiles at the variety of people sitting reverently in front of each altar painting. He hopes their experience with "The Master's Hand" will make them regular visitors to the museum.
"We have reached out and attracted new people."
