Alma Baptizes in the Waters of Mormon

Description

Alma Baptizes in the Waters of Mormon

Minerva Teichert, 1949-1951

Hidden amid a lush tropical forest, the waters of Mormon provided a secluded place for Alma to baptize the recent converts to the “church of Christ” (Mosiah 18:17). Despite the seeming privacy of the scene, however, one man on the right stands alert, turning away from the water to keep watch for signs of King Noah’s army. At center, Alma stands waist deep in the pristine water about to submerge a young girl below its crystal-clear surface.  A young boy, having just been baptized, approaches the bank. With water dripping from his hands and clothes, he is greeted by an attentive female figure.  The focus on youth in the scene may reference the Savior’s encouragement to be as little children while the quality of the water may symbolize the spiritual purity gained through baptism.

In her illustration of this scriptural narrative, Minerva Teichert included details she observed during her travels to Mexico. In this sketch for instance, she utilizes the many studies she made of the native foliage.

Alma Baptizes in the Waters of Mormon is part of our American Dreams and Pageants in Paint exhibitions.

More About Teichert

The works of western American artist, Minerva Teichert, have received increasingly popular and critical acclaim in recent years. Today, the LDS community loves Teichert. She is a woman who successfully combined both faith and family and left an extraordinary legacy of artistic production.

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. Soon, she 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.

She attended the Art Institute of Chicago and Art Students League of New York in the early 1900s. There, mural paintings and theatrical pageants were dynamic components of American popular culture. Teichert embraced these art forms. Following the admonition of her art teacher – the American realist painter Robert Henri – she used the visual language these murals provided to tell the narrative of her religious heritage as well as that of the American West.