Art in all its disciplines has played an increasingly significant role within the Seventh-day Adventist Church. William Miller and other pioneers who preceded the organization of the church used charts and graphs to clarify the complicated truths of Daniel and Revelation. But these were amateurish and limited. Eventually woodcuts, simple renderings, and then more finished illustrations were used in SDA work and publications as cost permitted.
The great themes of the Bible have challenged artists throughout the centuries, but simple line renderings have been used to communicate volumes of truth that carry eternal consequences.
Today the use of contemporary design, full-color illustrations, and photography are viewed as necessities rather than luxuries as SDA s communicate spiritual truths to a visually literate world.
Art in Evangelism . In the early days of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, illustrative material was extremely limited. Chiefly charts and illustrated diagrams were available, but with these the early evangelists sought to make their preaching effective.
James White, who had probably used the Millerite “1843 chart,” picturing the metallic image of Dan. 2 , the four beasts of Dan. 7 , the ram and he-goat of Dan. 8 , the beasts of Revelation, and the three angels of the fourteenth chapter, initiated the printing of SDA prophetic charts. Others using such charts were Joseph Bates, J. N. Loughborough, George I. Butler, and M. E. Cornell. The quality of the art on these early charts tended to be poor.
As evangelism and evangelistic audiences became more sophisticated, the quality of art used for charts was improved. Ingenious visual methods were used both to advertise evangelistic meetings and to illustrate the messages presented. For example, around 1900 William Ward Simpson used life-sized painted papier-mâché sculptured models of the symbolic beasts of prophecy with his evangelistic work, and on a truck displayed them through the streets to advertise his meetings. Ellen White commended his ingenuity. Other evangelists used attractive handbills with many strongly appealing cartoons and posters. Later many evangelists made use of hand-colored glass lantern slides to illustrate gospel songs and biblical topics. Beginning in the 1930s, Kodachrome slides, color movies, overhead projectors, black light, and video presentations have been used.
One- and two-color handbills, posters, and promotional materials proved to be effective forms of advertising through the 1950s and 1960s. But as four-color advertising and trendy design became more widely used, SDA evangelists have needed to use full color in presenting their campaigns. New illustration and contemporary news and stock photos help keep evangelistic campaign promotions current.
Art in Education. In 1887 a course in drawing and painting was offered at Healdsburg College, California, and by 1900 in other SDA colleges. Today most SDA colleges maintain art departments and offer majors and/or minors in art. The courses emphasize basic design, drawing, painting, ceramics, computer graphics, graphic design, sculpture, and photography to enable students to develop a creative use of these mediums. Courses are offered also in art education, art appreciation, and the history of art. Art galleries in some of the colleges have facilitated exposing the students and community to artists’ works.
The need for more professionally trained artist-teachers has arisen in both elementary and secondary schools because of the positive aesthetic and therapeutic value of such programs.
A pre-art therapy program presently is being offered at Andrews University. There is an ongoing need by the denomination’s publishing houses for skilled graphic designers, photographers, and illustrators. Supplying such professionals who can comprehend fully the church’s publishing mission necessitates the training of as many as possible within the SDA educational system.
Illustration in Publishing. The first illustration used in Seventh-day Adventist literature appeared in the Review and Herald of Mar. 23, 1852, a reproduction of a tree with the two tables of the law hanging from its branches. It was hand-engraved on wood by Uriah Smith. A similar engraving appeared in the first number of the Youth’s Instructor , illustrating Sabbath school lessons in August 1852. Later periodicals made somewhat regular use of engraved reproductions of pictures that had appeared elsewhere, as well as some originals.
As demands have increased and scanning, separating, and printing techniques have improved, more full-color work is being used. The use of process color is recognized today as vital to the success of SDA publications, although many still are limited by budgets to one or two colors.
Recognizing the usefulness of pictures to convey a vital truth, James White, in 1876, had a picture prepared entitled The Way of Life , From Paradise Lost to Paradise Restored , which he offered for sale with an explanatory leaflet for $1. It showed Jesus on the cross in the center; at the left was the angel expelling Adam and Eve from Eden. To the right of the cross were pictured the Last Supper and baptism, and in the top right corner the Holy City. It was about 14" x 20" (36 cm. x 50 cm.) in size. Six years later an improved version of the picture appeared. This was copyrighted in 1889 by Ellen G. White with a new title, Christ, the Way of Life .
There was a period about 1900, as illustrations were used more plentifully in SDA books and periodicals, when pictures were used that poorly and sometimes falsely represented the facts of the textual matter. Regarding this, Ellen G. White counseled: “I am troubled in regard to the use of pictures in our publications. . . . Some of the cuts used are very inferior, and poorly illustrate the subjects represented. I hope our publications will not come to resemble a comic almanac. I would not altogether condemn the use of pictures, but let fewer be used, and only such as are good illustrations of the subject. . . . If you choose to have a few pictures and good ones, I do not object. Let illustrations be choice rather than numerous”( CW 172).
Yet she also pointed out that “God Himself employed pictures and symbols to represent to His prophets lessons which He would have them give to the people, and which could thus be better understood than if given in any other way. He appealed to the understanding through the sense of sight” ( 2SM 319).
The first Seventh-day Adventist subscription book on doctrinal subjects, Thoughts on Daniel and the Revelation , by Uriah Smith, issued 1882, was illustrated with reproductions from steel engravings of biblical and historical subjects and some wood engravings of prophetic symbols overprinted in flat colors. The foundations of the New Jerusalem were illustrated in colors. A few of the “abundantly illustrated” books of that period were Bible Readings (1888) and Ellen G. White’s Steps to Christ (1892), Thoughts From the Mount of Blessing (1896), Christ’s Object Lessons (1900), and The Desire of Ages (1898). The last named, republished in 1900 in two large volumes, 73/4" x 11" (20 cm. x 28 cm.), by the Pacific Press, was undoubtedly the best example, up to that time, of SDA bookmaking and illustration. The Coming King , by J. E. White (1898), contained a number of illustrations by the art staff of the Review and Herald, whose Art Department was staffed by Peter J. Rennings, William Robinson, Harry Goodrich, Fred Roberts, Pedro Lemos, Sanford M. Harlan (an apprentice), and a file clerk. However, many of the best pictures were done by freelance illustrators F. Louis Mora and W. B. Davis. Some work was also done by Charles Mente, of Congers, New York.
When the Review and Herald moved to Washington, D.C., in 1906, Sanford Harlan became the nucleus of the Art Department, which was built up by T. K. Martin, who came in 1920 and served through 1968.
In the 1940s a major step forward was taken in the production of a new edition of Uriah Smith’s Daniel and the Revelation . The illustrating of this book, under the direction of T. K. Martin, introduced a number of original paintings by noted illustrators, giving the prophecies a stronger pictorial presentation. It was about that time that an illustrator of national reputation, Harry Anderson, who had recently joined the SDA Church, began contributing to the Review and Herald publications, and two other SDA illustrators, Clyde Provonsha and John Steel, were commissioned to produce several illustrations for the Southern Publishing Association and the Pacific Press, respectively.
As offset printing came into general use, greater flexibility in the reproduction and use of pictures became possible. Books formerly limited to black and white and a few color tip-ins could now be profusely illustrated in full color. The first successful attempt to produce an all-color set of subscription books was the publication of The Bible Story , by Arthur S. Maxwell, in 10 volumes. Twenty-one illustrators were employed to supply pictures for The Bible Story , including such outstanding artists as Harry Anderson, Harry Baerg, Jes Schlaikjer, N.A., Vernon Nye, and Russell Harlan (son of Sanford Harlan and great-grandson of John N. Andrews). The quality of art in The Bible Story has contributed to the phenomenal sale of the set not only in North America but also abroad.
About the beginning of the 1970s, art in SDA publications assumed a new appearance in keeping with the fast-changing trends and tastes in society. With the new and uninhibited use of the principles of design, an influx of new typefaces, and fresh use of color and textures, the designer’s skills were given full freedom of expression.
With constantly changing desktop and litho technology, today’s graphic designers enjoy seemingly limitless options. Photos and artwork are created and viewed instantly on desktop computers. Design skills, coupled with new technology, are bringing fresh visual direction to old themes.
Photography in Publishing. Photography plays a large part in the overall account of SDA art, not only for documentary purposes but for promotion of literature and in editorial presentations and book illustrations, both black and white and color. Both U.S. publishing houses have a full-time photographer.
The bridge between photography and computers is narrowing. Photos are being scanned directly into desktop systems for sizing, position, and design. Nevertheless, the eye of the skilled photographer will always have its place in publishing, as photography adds authenticity to printed materials.
Art in Church Departmental Activities. Graphic design, illustration, and photography are making strong contributions to the departmental activities of the church through the use of books, magazines, brochures, videos, and many other promotional and outreach materials. These provide a significant link between the various departments, unions, conferences, and laypersons to which they are sent in the SDA world.
Sculpture. Of the space, or visual, arts, SDA s have made least use of sculpture. William Ward Simpson’s papier-mâché models of the prophetic beasts were imitated by other evangelists, who elaborated on his idea, one using a plaster of Paris model of the image of Dan. 2 . For years, very little if any sculpture appeared on SDA architecture except as borders and in connection with adapted Gothic design motifs. In 1963 British sculptor Alan Collins, A.R.C.A., A.R.B.S. did a 14-foot (4.3-meter) representation of the three angels of Rev. 14 in high relief, in fiberglas, for the Trans-European Division headquarters building in St. Albans, England. While on the faculty of Andrews University (1971–1978), Collins designed the 22-foot (6.7-meter) abstract sculpture Regeneration, adjacent to the College of Technology building. Subsequently, he has made larger-than-life figure groups in stone and bronze— The Good Samaritan (1981) for Loma Linda University, and Christ Our Healer (1992) for Paradise Valley Hospital. Other works for churches or church institutions are at Bay Knoll church, Rochester, New York; North Hills church, Claremont, California; Atlantic Union College; and Union College. In the planning stage are figure groups for Andrews University (depicting J. N. Andrews and his two children embarking as the first missionaries for the SDA Church) and for the General Conference headquarters ( The Watchers , eight figures of different ethnic origin, typifying the races of the world in anticipation of the Second Advent).
Another artist, Wayne Hazen, has carved a large wood relief for Founders’ Hall at Atlantic Union College and has built a large abstract construction in concrete for the campus of Andrews University. More recently he carved a wood relief sculpture 17 feet (5 meters) long by 7 feet (2 meters) high of the healing hands of Christ for Hinsdale Hospital.