The estate of the celebrated Latter-day Saint artist Minerva Teichert is suing The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Deseret Book, Brigham Young University and others, accusing them of illegally reproducing and profiting off of her art.
At the heart of the matter is the question of who owns the copyrights to many of the late painter’s best-known works, including multiple depictions of Jesus Christ, Queen Esther and Mormon pioneers.
For years, replicas of these works have lined the halls of Latter-day Saint places of worship, while commercial outlets such as Deseret Book have profited off their sale.
There’s just one problem: Neither the artist nor her estate ever gave them permission to do so, according to a federal lawsuit filed Jan. 30 in California.
“In complete disregard for Minerva Teichert’s rights, and without authorization,” the suit states, the defendants “knowingly reproduced, distributed and displayed” her works.
As a result, lawyers representing the Teichert estate are seeking injunctive relief and monetary damages under copyright laws and other federal and state statutes.
For its part, the church, which also owns and operates BYU and Deseret Book, counters that it is the rightful owner of Teichert’s “loved and admired” works and vowed to safeguard them.
“The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints owns the paintings at issue and has never used them in any manner contrary to the artist’s wishes,” spokesperson Sam Penrod wrote in an email. “The church will continue to defend its careful stewardship of these canonical pieces as the case moves through the legal process so that we may preserve and protect this artwork for generations to come.”
BYU also pushed back against the complaint, calling it “unfounded.”
“For decades, BYU has enjoyed positive relationships with many members of the Teichert family, including Minerva Teichert herself,” the school stated in an email. “BYU and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints own the paintings identified in the lawsuit. The use of the artwork in question by the BYU Museum of Art has been in accordance with standard legal agreements and ethical best practices.”
A previous Teichert lawsuit
(Image courtesy of Tim Teichert) “Handcart Pioneers" by Minerva Teichert was removed from a Latter-day Saint meetinghouse in Cokeville, Wyo.
The lawsuit represents the second time the estate has challenged the Utah-based church in court over ownership of Teichert’s creations.
The first, brought in 2021, focused on 12 originals, which the estate accused the church of wrongfully assuming ownership over and relocating without authorization.
Tim Teichert, grandson of the artist and the estate’s representative, emphasized that while both suits might name the church itself as a defendant, his frustration lies not with the faith’s leaders but with the church’s History Department and BYU’s art department.
He believes they are responsible for removing four original pieces — one in 2014 and three more in 2020 — from a meetinghouse in Cokeville, Wyo., where the artist and many of her descendants attended church.
After the first painting disappeared, replaced by a replica, Tim said his father immediately wrote a letter to church headquarters asking why officials believed they had ownership over the painting.
“My dad felt like his mother had placed that painting there” and had intended them to be “for the people in Cokeville.”
Church officials’ response mystified both father and son.
“They basically said that we weren’t the legal entity to discuss this with,” Tim said. “Dad was pretty upset about the whole deal. He said, ‘You need to handle this.’”
Six years later, the remaining three originals disappeared from the Cokeville meetinghouse. Distraught, Tim hired a lawyer.
The initial complaint identifies at least eight other originals the estate believes were relocated without authorization, including from an east Salt Lake City chapel.
The church’s History Department and the Museum of Art at BYU “are claiming they have the copyrights to these, and we don’t know how that can be,” Tim said. “Typically, the copyrights reside with the heirs of the artist. We’ve received nothing that would show us anything different from that.”
Instead, Tim said he was shown a tithing receipt showing his grandmother paid her tithing with a painting. “But that was in 1929,” he explained. “The paintings that were in the Cokeville ward were painted in 1934.”
At one point, the two parties tried mediation, which Tim said “did not go well.” The case is set for trial in January 2024.
In search of proof of ownership
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) These Minerva Teichert paintings are shown in 2020 in an east Salt Lake City chapel.
Tim takes no pleasure in being perceived as a Temple Square gadfly.
“With all my heart I believe President Russell M. Nelson is a prophet of God,” he said, referring to the leader of the nearly 17 million-member worldwide faith.
Equally strong, however, is his belief that his renowned grandmother intended certain works to remain with the community — a place that still includes not only her own descendants but also the children and grandchildren of those she used as models for works that resided in the meetinghouse for nearly 60 years.
“I mean, nobody in Provo or Salt Lake can understand the significance of those paintings,” Tim said, “what they mean to our community.”
Alan Johnson, then-director of the Church History Museum, told The Salt Lake Tribune in 2020 that while he felt for the Teichert family and the Cokeville community, he had been directed by the faith’s governing First Presidency to gather and preserve those and other originals by the artist.
According to Johnson, the 2010 fire at the Provo Tabernacle, in which a Teichert original was lost, woke up church officials to concerns about preserving the beloved paintings.
Motive aside, Tim has yet to see any proof anyone else but the estate has the right to make that decision. This, more than the money or anything else, is what he hopes to gain from the new lawsuit.
“We would just like them to provide documentation” of ownership, he said, assuming it exists.
Lawyers for the Teichert estate explained in the complaint that they chose to file suit in California due to the defendants having “regularly” transacted business and causing injury in that state.
Editor’s note • This story is available to Salt Lake Tribune subscribers only. Thank you for supporting local journalism.
