Minerva Kohlhepp Teichert

Minerva Kohlhepp Teichert (1888-1976)

Minerva Kohlhepp was born in North Ogden, but grew up homestead farming in the vicinity of American Falls, Idaho. Her father encouraged her childhood sketching and she soon developed an "indomitable will to succeed and excel in the field of art." She taught school to raise enough money to go to Chicago for her art studies. When she had raised the money, her father would not let her go alone. It was arranged for her to be "set apart" as an LDS missionary so that she could travel with a church group.

She became the first known female artist to pursue her painting lessons with the specific and official blessings of the LDS hierarchy. When money ran low in Chicago, she put together a roping act for the New York stage. This is when she began her custom of wearing her distinctive head band. She became very good friends with her teacher, Robert Henri. He encouraged her to go home and "paint the Mormon story." And this is what she determined to do with her life. Here is an excerpt from her own autobiographical life sketch, written in 1947:

"I married my cowboy sweetheart, which was right. My first son was born while my husband was serving in France. I painted stage scenery to pay for his birth. I painted what I loved for the Pocatello Tabernacle "Not Alone", and got thirty-eight dollars for it. . . .For the next ten years I helped in the hay fields. My first three little boys grew up beside a haystack. . . .When the American Falls Dam went in I was the last white woman out of the Snake River Bottoms. . . .I spent most of the mornings for the next fifteen years in the milk house. The children must be educated, etc. I painted after they were tucked into bed at night. I must paint. It's a disease." (Minerva Teichert, handwritten manuscript, 1947, research files, Museum of Church History and Art).

A fascinating biography of Minerva Teichert can be found in the April 1989 Ensign, available on-line at lds.org. Entitled Minerva Teichert: With a Bold Brush, this article by Jan Underwood Pinborough vividly tells of Minerva's drive as a pioneer artist, determined to capture the Mormon story in spite of many challenges. It includes several of her paintings.

There are several books about the artist available from the Museum Store of the Museum of Church History and Art, 45 North West Temple, Salt Lake City, UT 84150-3810, telephone 801-240-3592. They will send you a catalog if you request one. In it you will find Book of Mormon Paintings of Minerva Teichert , a fascinating collection of her scriptural art. This is not Arnold Friberg's Book of Mormon. This is a woman's interpretation, and very unique, insightful, and enlightening. Letters of Minerva Teichert, tells more about the woman herself. There is also a museum catalog titled Minerva Teichert with nice reproductions.

Two pictures in the Gospel Art Picture Kit

with hymns from the LDS hymnal and the Children's Songbook

#125 Queen Esther (see also the August 1990 Ensign, inside front cover) Esther 1-10

"Who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?" Esther 4:14

Hymn #239 (Children's Songbook p.160) Choose the Right

Hymn #237 Do What is Right

Hymn #304 (Children's Songbook p.177) Teach me to Walk in the Light,

#203 The Wise Men Matthew 2:1-12; 3 Nephi 1:21; Joseph Smith Translation, Matthew 3:2

"Go and search diligently for the young child; and when ye have found him, bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also." Matthew 2:8

Hymn #210 With Wondering Awe

Hymn #202 Oh, Come All Ye Faithful

You will be able to find more pictures by Minerva Teichert in the Ensigns listed below.

Shepherd Seeing Star December 1999 (front cover) Luke 2

"And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord." Luke 2:8-11

Hymn #211 While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks

Hymn #212 Far, Far Away on Judea's Plains

Hymn #213 The First Noel

Brigham Young Offers Prayers January 1997 D&C 136 Zion's Camp

"If thou art merry, praise the Lord with singing, with music, with dancing, and with a prayer of praise and thanksgiving. If thou art sorrowful, call on the Lord thy God with supplication, that your souls may be joyful." D&C 136:28-29

Hymn #91 Father, Thy Children to Thee Now Raise

Hymn #115 Come, Ye Disconsolate

Children's Songbook p. 21 For Thy Bounteous Blessings

Not Alone July 1997 (inside back cover) depicts the story of Mary Fielding Smith and her young son Joseph F. crossing the plains. Note the caption explaining how the painting came to be.

"Behold, thou art in thy youth, and therefore I beseech of thee that thou wilt hear my words and learn of me: for I do know that whosoever shall put their trust in God shall be supported in their trial, and their troubles, and their afflictions, and shall be lifted up at the last day." Alma 36:3

"Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us." Hebrews 12:1

Hymn #127 Does the Journey Seem Long? (Text by Joseph Fielding Smith)

Children's Songbook p.217 Westward Ho!

Hole in the Rock October 1995 (front cover)

Handcart Pioneers July 1986 (inside front cover)

"Now this was the faith of these of whom I have spoken: they are young, and their minds are firm, and they do put their trust in God continually." Alma 57:27

Hymn #252 Put Your Shoulder to the Wheel

Hymn #255 Carry On

Children's Songbook p.220 The Handcart Song

First Plowing October 1982 (inside back cover) July 1981 (inside front cover)

"Fear not to do good, my sons, for whatsoever ye sow, that shall ye also reap: therefore, if ye sow good ye shall also reap good for your reward. Therefore, fear not, little flock: do good; let earth and hell combine against you, for if ye are built upon my rock, they cannot prevail." D&C 6:33-34

"For thou shalt eat the labor of thy hands: happy shalt thou be, and it shall be well with thee." Psalms 128:1-2

Hymn #255 Carry On

Hymn #35 For the Strength of the Hills

Hymn #216 We Are Sowing

Miracle of the Gulls August 1981 (inside front cover)

"Therefore we did pour out our souls in prayer to God, that he would strengthen us and deliver us out of the hands of our enemies, yea, and also give us strength that we might retain our cities, and our lands, and our possessions, for the support of our people. Yea, and it came to pass that the Lord our God did visit us with assurances that he would deliver us; yea, insomuch that he did speak peace to our souls, and did grant unto us great faith, and did cause us that we should hope for our deliverance in him." Alma 58:10-11

Hymn #242 Praise God, from Whom All Blessings Flow

Hymn #128 When Faith Endures

Hymn #110 Cast Thy Burdens upon the Lord

Study Suggestions:

Teichert made an arrangement with Brigham Young University to exchange artwork for tuition scholarships for her children and many others, especially those who needed assistance. As a result, the university now possesses a large collection of her work.. Late in life, she donated a series of another 45 paintings with Book of Mormon themes to BYU.

BYU's Museum of Art has recently opened a new public gallery that features Minerva Teichert's work. Upon dedication, President Hinckley remarked, "She was a very impressive woman. She was very personable woman. She wasn't a unapproachable, stiff-necked artist... You could tell a Minerva Teichert painting if you bumped into it in China... I respect her for her unique qualities and tremendous artistry that she has shown." Compare her style to those of other artists. She does not focus on details, but rather simplifies to give more power to her main subjects.

In Handcart Pioneers, the dress worn by the central woman is decorated in a bird-of-paradise motif from fabric owned by Sara Bundy Wade, Minerva's great-grandmother, who died at Winter Quarters in 1846. Paisley shawls were popular in pioneer times and appear in many of Teicherts paintings. Try creating a paisley design, or repeating pattern such as the dress fabric.

Minerva Teichert painted on anything that she could find, canvas, plywood, velvet, brown paper grocery bags. Try a Minerva style painting using thick acrylic paints on a brown paper grocery sack. Use lots of texture. Make a home gallery of your paintings. Try trading one of you paintings for something else you desire, a book, or a batch of cookies.

Sample Narration:

First Plowing. "The first plowing and planting in the Salt Lake Valley becomes a religious act in this painting. Heads of both men and beasts are bowed as if in prayer, and the seagulls, a symbol of God's goodness, hover above in seeming blessing. In this sacred scene, the temporal acts of farming are interpreted as spiritual contributions to building the kingdom.

This fine work illustrates Teichert's command of human and animal anatomy, yet it is also beautiful in its color harmonies. The power and boldness of this image indicate that Teichert was totally removed from the "pretty," highly detailed still lifes and landscapes painted by most woman of the period. This piece is a statement of her natural inclinations toward expressing the strength and drama inherent in those who work with and are close to the earth." (from Images of Faith: Art of the Latter-day Saints, published by Deseret Book, p. 75).