In a document written in 1945, the publishers indicate that by the previous year a total of 14 million single pictures had been printed. One run of the image, which required three to four weeks to complete from start to finish, consisted of five thousand sheets and concluded a variety of sizes of the Head of Christ, ranging from 20 x 16 to 3 ½ x 2 ½ inches. Several runs were already completed in 1941. By 1944, the market supported increasing the size of individual prints to 40 x 30 inches for large images to be used in public spaces such as churches and YMCA’s.

The image was marketed in an inexpensively-framed format; as cards bearing devotional texts; and on greeting cards, church bulletins, clocks, lamps, buttons, and funeral announcements to name only a few examples. Sales catalogs and promotional literature advertised Sallman’s principal paintings each year. The Head of Christ became the virtual trademark of Kriebel & Bates and so quickly found public acceptance that the publishers encouraged Sallman to use the Head as frequently as possible in other depictions of Christ. The artist complied by duplicating the head in other images (see entry nos. 7 and 8); rotating it to reveal more of the face; and reversing it as in Christ Our Pilot.

One admirer of the Head of Christ wrote the following about its meaning to her:

There is something more about Warner Sallman’s pictures that makes me feel … when I see them that this artist had felt Christ’s presence when he made the images . . . and you can feel Christ’s presence . . . conveyed . . . to you through his images. From the image of the head of Christ I see righteousness, strength, power, reverence, respect, fairness, faithfulness, love, compassion. From the way the hair in the image is highlighted in the back and highlights around the front of the head and face there seems to be a Holy radiance emitted from the image, depicting the qualities mentioned above [Correspondence file, Sallman Archives, Anderson University].

--Excerpt of 1994 exhibition catalogue by Dr. David Morgan, Department of Art, Valparaiso University. Used with permission. Sallman images copyrighted by Warner Press, Inc. Used with permission.