Minerva Teichert - Artist, Mother, Wife, Wyoming Rancher

by Latter-Day Home August 9, 2019

“I must paint,” she says.

One of Latter-Day Home’s favorites, Minerva Teichert, is known for her beautiful and unique depictions of the American West and her pioneer heritage. Her acute focus on women subjects is a real treasure. In many ways, Minerva Teichert was ahead of her time.

So what can we say about the LDS artist who created over 400 stunning murals in the course of her lifetime?

We could say that Minerva Teichert began her career when her mother gave her a set of watercolor paints. She was four years old. Raised in Idaho, she became a student of art when she left for San Francisco as a nanny at the age of fourteen. She became awestruck by the art museums in this new, big city.

From then on, it was all Minerva Teichert could think about. She studied in Chicago and New York City with Robert Henri, one of the very best. He told her she had a gift and a calling to paint for the members of her church. She listened.

Minerva spent the rest of her life painting, but she didn’t stop living. She married Herman Teichert, lived on a ranch in Cokesville, Wyoming, and raised five children. She kept large canvas paintings in her living room, sometimes sneaking away from the kitchen to paint a single brushstroke.

When a friend asked her how she managed to continue painting even though she lived in artistic isolation, she told them: “I must paint.”

We’re so glad she did.

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