44 Facts About John Hafen

John Hafen was a Swiss-born American artist, primarily of landscapes and portraits.

John Hafen suffered intense financial difficulty throughout his life and did not receive much recognition as an artist until a few years before his death.

John Hafen was born on March 22,1856, in Scherzingen, Switzerland.

John Hafen began making art as a young boy, producing sketches as early as age four.

When John Hafen was six years old, his family immigrated to the US They then traveled westward in wagons.

Young John grew up in towns such as Payson and Richfield; the former was where Hafen first met future artist J B Fairbanks, and the two became childhood friends.

Still, John Hafen worked to develop a career for himself as a painter, and worked as a photographer in the meantime.

John Hafen was able to display some of his paintings of landscapes at Savage's studio, which were described as "not only credible, but decidedly praiseworthy" by a writer for the Salt Lake Herald-Republican.

In 1881, John Hafen joined other local artists in founding the Utah Art Association, which organized exhibitions and provided instruction for aspiring artists.

John Hafen felt his plan was divinely inspired, and wanted to use what he believed to be his God-given talent to glorify God in return.

John Hafen struggled to meet the expectations of his mentors, particularly in drawing, and made an effort to replace what he had taught himself in Utah with these new European artistic methods.

John Hafen struggled to have confidence in his abilities and grew worried over the artists' financial situation, but was encouraged by a letter from George Cannon to complete his mission.

John Hafen returned to Utah on August 17,1891, before the rest of his comrades.

John Hafen was the first of his group to begin work at the temple, playing a major role in the initial mural planning.

John Hafen painted studies on canvas in preparation for painting the murals.

John Hafen began work on the walls of the garden room in 1892, and soon wrote to the other art missionaries, petitioning their return and assistance in painting the murals.

John Hafen subsequently had the help of Fairbanks, Pratt, Evans, and Hafen's old mentor, Weggeland.

John Hafen continued to paint following his return home, and opened up a studio of his own in Springville, where he exhibited his depictions of the rural Utah landscape from the mid-1890s until 1907.

John Hafen won the 1893 Utah Art Institute Exhibition prize of $300.

John Hafen became the vice president of the Society of Utah Artists that year.

John Hafen signed a contract with President Lorenzo Snow in 1901 to paint a certain number of landscapes and portraits each month in return for $100.

In 1903, after attending an art lecture at Brigham Young Academy, John Hafen decided to donate his painting entitled Mountain Stream to Springville High School in an effort to inspire a new generation of artists in that community.

John Hafen again won the Utah Art Institute prize that year as well.

John Hafen then moved to Nashville, Indiana, and began work on a series of eight paintings to accompany Eliza R Snow's poem "O, My Father", notable in part for the sixth painting, which is the earliest known visual work by a Latter-day Saint artist to depict Heavenly Mother.

John Hafen used family members and local LDS Church leaders as models.

John Hafen was offended by the LDS Church's reluctance to endorse the booklet of poems and use them as material for missionary distribution, thinking that they disliked his paintings.

John Hafen finished the paintings the year before he died.

Alongside Adolph Shultz, John Hafen became involved in the growth of the Brown County Art Colony.

John Hafen left to visit his family in Utah for a time, then returned to Indiana with his son Virgil, an aspiring artist; together they opened up a studio in Indianapolis.

John Hafen was awarded the Utah Art Institute Medal of Honor and first prize at the 1908 Illinois State Fair in the landscape category.

John Hafen's success was short-lived as he died in 1910.

John Hafen met his wife, Thora Twede, at George Edward Anderson's photography studio.

John Hafen struggled to balance his artistic endeavors with the responsibility to provide for his family financially; he entered into multiple ventures to try to make money, but none of them were fruitful.

In 1888, John Hafen was arrested for entering into plural marriage with his sister-in-law; the case was then dismissed when it was revealed she was engaged to a different man.

John Hafen was deeply inspired by his time in Paris, and admired the city's devotion to art, but missed his wife and children throughout his time as an art missionary.

The financial strain he experienced prior to his time in France continued when he returned to Utah, and John Hafen combined his artistic endeavors and commissions from the LDS Church with other employment, as he had done before.

John Hafen painted a mural of hollyhocks to cover a bare wall in the house.

John Hafen was separated from his family during his trips to the west coast and to the east.

John Hafen sent money to his wife and children whenever he could.

John Hafen's finances improved during his last few years of life in Indiana, and he was able to make ends meet.

On June 3,1910, John Hafen died of pneumonia in Indianapolis.

Roberts; the latter recalled that John Hafen saw art as his life's mission and "was willing to sacrifice all" for his creative pursuits.

John Hafen's works became some of the most sought-after among Utah collectors.

John Hafen's paintings have been on display in Paris, Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia, and St Louis at exhibitions such as that of the Society of American Artists; the John Herron Art Institute has featured his works.