Tribute to Latter-day Saint Women Pioneers

The Great Salt Lake provides the backdrop as four Latter-day Saint pioneer women are depicted holding a fresh crop, ready to trade with their California neighbors who desperately need fresh food to stave off scurvy. The scene greets visitors to the Minerva Teichert & Pioneer Women of Salt Lake exhibit at Anthony’s Fine Art in downtown Salt Lake City. Titled “Utah Women Save the Day,” the painting is part of a gallery in a historic church that features such wonders as an ancient Roman mosaic and Louis Comfort Tiffany’s stained glass window of “The Good Shepherd.”

The Minerva Teichert exhibit, complete with her artwork and the journals of Latter-day Saint women pioneers, takes visitors back in time, offering insight into how these women shaped the West. As art consultant and expert Micah Christensen explains, the scene Teichert depicts takes place just a few years after the seagull miracle. In 1848, when Latter-day Saint pioneers were settling in the Salt Lake Valley, crickets were destroying their crops, putting them at risk of starvation. The miraculous arrival of seagulls, which ate the crickets, saved the harvest.

The following year’s harvest was better and coincided with the Gold Rush. “Brigham Young had promised the Latter-day Saints when they arrived that things would come to them in this remote place in the valley,” Christensen said. “And here in this painting we see Minerva painting a fulfillment of that prophecy.”

Latter-day Saint women pioneers, who had fled religious persecution and endured multiple moves across the country, carried only what would fit into small suitcases. Christensen pointed to these suitcases, noting that they were no longer than a typical desk, and yet they shared them among themselves.

The 49ers, who were traveling west for gold, were vitamin C deficient and traded clothing, furniture and pottery — items the pioneers couldn’t carry — for fresh fruits and vegetables from the Latter-day Saint women. Christensen emphasized the women’s leadership in these negotiations. “She’s making the sun set over the Great Salt Lake and she’s shining the light on all the women,” Christensen said. “Instead of it being a negative interaction between the Gentiles and the Latter-day Saints, you have women negotiating with each other.”

Teichert modeled the Latter-day Saint women pioneers after her own family members, giving the painting a deeper personal connection. As Christensen related, Teichert’s ancestor Minerva Wade was an early pioneer in the area where the Miracle of the Gulls occurred. Years later, Teichert painted “Utah Women Save the Day” with her family ties in mind.

Teichert, though born in Ogden, traveled to Chicago and New York to study with renowned artists. She was taught by Robert Henri, an influential American artist who was “definitely not a Latter-day Saint” but who nevertheless encouraged her to paint the story of her people. “She took that on throughout her career and focused on the everyday experiences of women, and the miraculous and large-scale stories,” Christensen said.

Christensen noted that Teichert’s exceptional training is evident in her multi-figure historical works, which required that individual figures be composed cohesively. “She masterfully creates a personality for each of the figures. Each one does something,” Christensen said of “Utah Women Save the Day.” The painting continually reveals new details, he added. “I’ve been living with this painting for about a month now, and every time I look at it, I’m drawn to a different detail.”

According to Christensen, Teichert is one of the greatest muralists the United States has ever had. The primary purpose of her work was to tell stories rather than to create photorealistic paintings. She has become an illustrator of the Latter-day Saints’ vision of their history and ancestors. This legacy is evidenced by the long lines at the Manti Utah Temple, where people came from far and wide to see her murals during the open house.

Teichert’s contributions extend beyond canvases and murals. Her dedication to depicting the stories of pioneer women has left an indelible mark on how history views these everyday women and their important roles in shaping the West.

Source: Deseret News