"The time has come," argues Jack R. Lundbom, "for a broader public to know the man who stands behind the paintings and other artwork bearing the Sallman signature." Master Painter is a fascinating story of a gifted man with humble beginnings who overcame disappointment, ill health, and personal limitations in order to live out a vision: that his art serve not only the enjoyment of humankind, but the practical end of instruction persons in the ways of God. Readers who know the art can now know the artist. It is a story eminently worth telling and one a broad public will be interested to know. "Lundbom's premise is that because so many people are familiar with the painting it is only fitting that the public be given an opportunity to know the artist. Not only do readers get to know the humble and unassuming Sallman from this book, but they also get a first hand look at what American Christianity looked like in communities from the first half of the twentieth century. For those who want to learn how American Christianity functioned from 1900 to 1970, this book reveals denominations, publishing houses, and other institutional features of a small ethnic church. It is a good read and reveals an era from which our contemporary church emerged." —David Neil Mosser The Clergy Journal