Edmonds man remembers painter of iconic ‘Head of Christ’

Asked to name the world’s best known painting, you might answer “The Mona Lisa” by Leonardo da Vinci. Asked to visualize the most recognized artwork, a different image may come to mind. It’s called the “Head of Christ.” You know it. Perhaps you grew up with it.

The iconic portrait of Jesus — with hair flowing, eyes upturned and an incandescent glow — was painted in 1940 by a commercial artist in Chicago. His name was Warner Sallman.

Ken Gaydos, of Edmonds, remembers Sallman. As a boy, Gaydos attended the same Chicago church where Sallman worshipped. It was called the Swedish Mission Covenant Church back then.

Now 76, Gaydos remembers that every Christmas season Sallman would stand in front of the congregation. “The choir would be singing, and he would do a chalk drawing of a biblical theme,” he said. And year-round, a huge version of Sallman’s “Head of Christ” was at the front of the church.

“I grew up with it,” Gaydos said.

A chaplain for the Edmonds fire and police departments, Gaydos is the founder of Support 7, a nonprofit program that has helped people affected by police and fire emergencies in south Snohomish County.

This month, an art exhibit in Seattle is reminding Gaydos of his boyhood connection to the painter who created the “Head of Christ.”

“Warner Sallman: The Master Painter” will be on view at Seattle’s Nordic Heritage Museum through Tuesday. It includes both Christian and secular works by Sallman. A son of Finnish and Swedish immigrants, the artist was 76 when he died in 1968.

On Friday, Gaydos met in Edmonds with LeRoy Carlson, who founded the Warner E. Sallman Art Collection, Inc., a decade ago in Chicago. The nonprofit organization works to collect, preserve and display Sallman’s art.

“I never knew Mr. Sallman, but I knew three of his children,” Carlson said Friday. Those children have died, but some of Sallman’s grandchildren are involved in the group.

Carlson and his wife Colleen brought the display to Seattle and other places. In Illinois, Carlson said, 41,000 people flocked to see Sallman’s art when it was displayed at the Billy Graham Center Museum at Wheaton College. There are original paintings at the Nordic Heritage Museum, but some are reproductions.

Gaydos has his own Sallman painting, a different image of Christ. He doesn’t know if it’s an original. It is a treasured possession. It was a wedding gift from Sallman and his wife Ruth. The artist signed its lower-right corner with a personal message: “To Lois Ann and J. Kenneth Gaydos on their wedding day, Aug. 10, 1963 — ‘Jesus himself drew near and went with them.’”

The Edmonds man said Sallman was a contemporary of his parents John and Eleanor Gaydos. The artist visited their home and a cabin the Gaydos family had at Delavan Lake in Wisconsin. “He was a good friend of my parents and my grandparents,” Gaydos said. “I remember as a young boy, him coming out to the little lake house up in southern Wisconsin.” And the artist can be seen on some of his family’s old home movies.

Gaydos has a favorite Sallman painting, and it’s not the “Head of Christ.” At 17, Gaydos joined the Navy and left home for San Diego and sea duty. The painting “Christ Our Pilot,” with a young man at a ship’s wheel and the figure of Jesus with a hand on the sailor’s shoulder, was one Gaydos has identified with through the years.

“That one impressed me, especially in the military. I knew there would be tough times ahead, but He will direct you,” Gaydos said.

In the Navy, Gaydos realized how well known Sallman’s work had become.

Carlson said the first version of what became “Head of Christ” was a charcoal drawing Sallman did in 1924 for the cover of a periodical called “The Covenant Companion.” Sallman called that first drawing “Son of Man.”

According to the Warner E. Sallman Art Collection, Inc., at least 500 million copies of the “Head of Christ” have been made. In 2009, there was a Swedish stamp with the image. It was first published and marketed in 1940 by Anthony Kriebel and Fred Bates, of the Gospel Trumpet Company in Anderson, Indiana. The copyright was later acquired by Warner Press, Inc.

The picture was used by the YMCA and the Salvation Army. It’s been displayed in countless churches and homes. The USO handed out pocket-sized versions of the “Head of Christ” to Americans going off to serve in World War II.

What Jesus of Nazareth actually looked like is a mystery. With his interpretation, Sallman created a lasting impression.

Gaydos has his own lasting impressions of the artist.

“I remember him as a very gracious man, like you’d want a good grandpa to be,” he said.

Julie Muhlstein: 425-339-3460; jmuhlstein@heraldnet.com.

Art on view

Seattle’s Nordic Heritage Museum is hosting “Warner Sallman: The Master Painter,” an exhibit of artwork by the Christian artist who painted the iconic “Head of Christ.” The display is on view through Tuesday. The museum is open noon-4 p.m. Sunday, closed Monday, open 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday. It is at 3014 NW 67th St., Seattle. Information: www.nordicmuseum.org/

Learn about the Warner E. Sallman Art Collection, Inc. at: www.sallmanart.org/

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

Trader Joe’s customers walk in and out of the store on Monday, Nov. 20, 2023 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
New Trader Joe’s opens this week at Everett Mall

It’s a short move from a longtime location, essentially across the street, where parking was often an adventure.

Ian Bramel-Allen enters a guilty plea to second-degree murder during a plea and sentencing hearing on Wednesday, March 6, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘Deep remorse’: Man gets 17 years for friend’s fatal stabbing in Edmonds

Ian Bramel-Allen, 44, pleaded guilty Wednesday to second-degree murder for killing Bret Northcutt last year at a WinCo.

Firefighters respond to a small RV and a motorhome fire on Tuesday afternoon in Marysville. (Provided by Snohomish County Fire Distrct 22)
1 injured after RV fire, explosion near Marysville

The cause of the fire in the 11600 block of 81st Avenue NE had not been determined, fire officials said.

Ashton Dedmon appears in court during his sentencing hearing on Tuesday, March 5, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Everett Navy sailor sentenced to 90 days for fatal hit and run

Ashton Dedmon crashed into Joshua Kollman and drove away. Dedmon, a petty officer on the USS Kidd, reported he had a panic attack.

A kindergarten student works on a computer at Emerson Elementary School on Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2024, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘¡Una erupción!’: Dual language programs expanding to 10 local schools

A new bill aims to support 10 new programs each year statewide. In Snohomish County, most follow a 90-10 model of Spanish and English.

Cassie Franklin, Mayor of Everett, delivers the annual state of the city address Thursday morning in the Edward D. Hansen Conference Center in Everett, Washington on March 31, 2022.  (Kevin Clark / The Herald)
At Everett mayor’s keynote speech: $35 entry, Boeing sponsorship

The city won’t make any money from the event, city spokesperson Simone Tarver said. Still, it’s part of a trend making open government advocates wary.

Logo for news use featuring the Tulalip Indian Reservation in Snohomish County, Washington. 220118
Woman drives off cliff, dies on Tulalip Reservation

The woman fell 70 to 80 feet after driving off Priest Point Drive NW on Sunday afternoon.

Everett
Boy, 4, survives fall from Everett fourth-story apartment window

The child was being treated at Seattle Children’s. The city has a limited supply of window stops for low-income residents.

People head out to the water at low tide during an unseasonably warm day on Saturday, March 16, 2024, at Lighthouse Park in Mukilteo, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Everett shatters record high temperature by 11 degrees

On Saturday, it hit 73 degrees, breaking the previous record of 62 set in 2007.

Snohomish County Fire District #4 and Snohomish Regional Fire & Rescue respond to a motor vehicle collision for a car and pole. The driver was pronounced dead at the scene, near Triangle Bait & Tackle in Snohomish. (Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office)
Police: Troopers tried to stop driver before deadly crash in Snohomish

The man, 31, was driving at “a high rate of speed” when he crashed into a traffic light pole and died, investigators said.

Alan Dean, who is accused of the 1993 strangulation murder of 15-year-old Bothell girl Melissa Lee, appears in court during opening statements of his trial on Monday, March 18, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
31 years later, trial opens in Bothell teen’s brutal killing

In April 1993, Melissa Lee’s body was found below Edgewater Creek Bridge. It would take 27 years to arrest Alan Dean in her death.

Logo for news use featuring the municipality of Snohomish in Snohomish County, Washington. 220118
Man dies after crashing into pole in Snohomish

Just before 1 a.m., the driver crashed into a traffic light pole at the intersection of 2nd Street and Maple Avenue.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.