DiscussMormonism.com

There has been discussion on this board of whether Mormonism has produced any good art, or whether all Mormon art is condemned to be no more than kitsch.

Well, as a nevermo I was delighted to make an accidental discovery (while googling something else) of a rather good Mormon painter, Minerva Teichert, born August 28, 1888 in North Ogden, Utah. Her biography is here, and her paintings on Book of Mormon themes are shown in thumbnail here..

Here is one I particularly like - Mosiah interpreting a Jaredite stone:



She did this work while bringing up five children in a remote and cramped farmhouse. "Though rated with the top artists of the time, she returned to Idaho instead of taking advantage of an opportunity to study in Europe or stepping into a professional career." Hmm. Only she could say whether this was a good decision or not.

That's right, I forgot about her. My MP had a book with her work in it in his swanky MP pad.

Minerva Teichert is interesting. Runtu and I once saw a small exhibition of her work together.

Although I'm not sure if I would call him an "LDS painter," I've always wanted to do some research on Alfred Lambourne. (Certainly, Lambourne was a member, and I think a few of his paintings may currently hang in the Salt Lake temple, but the little I know of his biography makes me wonder how much of a believer he really was.)

He traveled for a while with the great photographer of the west, Charles R. Savage, and often painted landscapes that he was the first, or among the first, to travel into. What most interests me about his work, though, is the year he spend living in a cottage he built on Gunnison Island among the handful of men who worked there mining pelican guano. Though quite rough hewn, I think his residence was kitted out with some amazing amenities: among them a piano. He wrote a book about his year among the guano sifters of Gunnison Island called Our Inland Sea which I've not read (though I just noticed it's been scanned to Google books! Yay!). If I recall correctly, some parts of Gunnison's cabin are still extant on the island, though as a protected nature preserve, one has to obtain permission to visit the island.

I like Minerva Teichert's paintings. Some of her work hangs in the Manti temple, and Blixa and I had a wonderful time going through a Teichert exhibit a few years ago. It's so unlike the almost utilitarian nature of so much LDS art, particularly the Del Parsons stuff done these days.

I like this one the best of all her work:

And I really like her name. ;)

zeezrom wrote:And I really like her name. ;)

So do I!!!

zeezrom wrote:I like this one the best of all her work:

Is that lady flipping me off?

I can't quite tell.

In my opinion, her stuff sucks. Too much "light on light," for example. Too indistinct, too.

Dr. Shades wrote:In my opinion, her stuff sucks. Too much "light on light," for example. Too indistinct, too.

A little primitive in style and execution (no formal training?). Still, she does have talent. Her composition is quite good.