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This item SOLD at 2010 Jul 24 @ 13:26UTC-7 : PDT/MST
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Eanger Irving Couse (1866-1936), Kachina Painter (1917), oil on canvas, 35 x 46 inches, signed lower left.
Kachina Painter will be included in the forthcoming catalog raisonné.
LITERATURE:
Milwaukee Free Press, 10 November 1918
Milwaukee Sentinel, 10 November 1918
Rose Henderson, “A Painter of Pueblo Indians,”
American Magazine of Art, v.11, no. 11, (1920): page 403, illustrated
“Paintings of the West,” El Palacio [reprint of Babcock Galleries catalogue], vii, no. 7-8 (July 1920) page 403, illustrated
Exhibition Catalog, Paintings of the West (New York, New York: Babcock Galleries, 1920), page 403, illustrated
Blanch C. Grant, One Hundred Years Ago in Old Taos (Taos, New Mexico, 1925), page 24
Nicholas Woloshuk, E. Irving Couse (Santa Fe, New Mexico: Santa Fe Village Art Museum, 1976) illustrated black & white, page 14
PROVENANCE:
Milch Gallery, New York, New York
Sold to Horatio S. Ruben, New York, New York, November 1917
Property of a Family Collection
EXHIBITIONS:
Taos Society of Artists 1917/18 exhibition circuit
National Academy of Design, New York, New York, March 1919
Buffalo Fine Arts Academy, Buffalo, New York, May-September 1919
Paintings of the West, Babcock Galleries, New York, 1920.
Kachina Painter
E.I. Couse was a highly respected painter of the early twentieth century, known in particular for his respectful paintings of Native Americans. As a small child in Saginaw, Michigan, his fascination with the local Chippewas fueled his passionate desire to paint Indian subjects. It was not until after he completed his art studies in Chicago, New York, and Paris, however, that he had the opportunity to seriously pursue this interest.
His first paintings of Native Americans were of the Klickitat, Yakima, and Umatilla Indians, made in the 1890s while living on his wife’s family’s ranch in Washington State. Models, however, were difficult to find, the tribes in that area being scattered and the individuals unwilling to pose.
In 1902 he first visited northern New Mexico. There he found an extraordinary quality of light, a high desert and mountain landscape of incomparable beauty, and a native culture that still retained its ancient traditions and life style. The Indians at nearby Taos Pueblo were willing to serve as models, so Couse and his family settled in for the duration, returning every summer to paint, while also retaining a winter studio in New York until 1928.
These same qualities attracted other artists to Taos. In 1915, the six professional painters who were working in the area formed the Taos Society of Artists and began to exhibit as a group. Their first national exhibition circuit opened in New York City at the Hotel Majestic in December 1917 and The Kachina Painter was one of three paintings that Couse chose to include in this inaugural event. The exhibition traveled to nine other major cities across the country. The Kachina Painter was sold to a New York collector.
The Kachina Painter was singled out for special mention by a Milwaukee critic, who described it as “brilliantly executed and dramatically sincere. It reveals Couse as a fine colorist and is one of the finest canvases this gifted artist has painted.”
By 1917, when he painted The Kachina Painter, Couse had reached his maturity as an artist. His gentle portrayals of Pueblo people as peaceful and family oriented, helped turn public opinion away from the fear inspired by the Indian Wars, to a later appreciation of Indian culture as uniquely American.
Couse greatly admired not only the craftsmanship but the artistry of Indian artists. He made a large collection of their art and artifacts and many of these pieces show up in his paintings. His collection can still be seen in his Taos studio. A recurring theme in many of his paintings is the native artist at work painting on a wall or a skin; forming or decorating a piece of pottery; or weaving a blanket or a basket. In The Kachina Painter, Couse captures the act of creation itself as the native artist completes his drawing. Of equal importance, however, is the beautiful painted jar behind the figure, another fine example of Indian artistry.
Kachina images are most often associated with the Hopi Indians. Couse lived at the Hopi village of Walpi for six weeks in 1903, and may actually have seen examples of such images there. A page from one of his sketchbooks, containing a compositional sketch for his painting, however, reveals that the source for the kachina figure in the sketch was a woven Hopi plaque in his collection. Unfortunately, the source for the changes incorporated into the painting itself has not yet been identified. The large pottery vessel in the finished painting represents a fine example from his personal collection of Pueblo ceramics.
A man from Taos Pueblo modeled for the figure in The Kachina Painter, although the kachina image derives from Hopi culture and the polychrome olla is from San Ildefanso Pueblo. Couse wanted the painting to celebrate Native American artistry in general and did not intend it to be tribe specific.
Virginia Couse Leavitt, May 2010
Secretary of The Couse Foundation and
Custodian of the Couse/Sharp Historic Site
The Indian is a natural cubist.
Eanger Irving Couse
Auction Location:
The Silver Legacy Resort & Casino, 407 N. Virginia St., Reno, Nevada, 89501, United States
Previewing Details:
Preview July 23, 2010: 9.00am - 5.00 pm
and July 24, 2010: 8.00am - 12.00 noon.
Silver Legacy Resort
407 N. Virginia Street
Reno, Nevada.
No tax on items shipped out of State of Nevada
Taxes:
| Tax | Rate | Desc. |
| NSST |
7.725% |
Nevada State Sales Tax |
Buyer's Premiums:
| From (Incl.) | To (Excl.) | Premium |
| 0.00 |
500,000.00 |
19% |
| 500,000.00 |
Infinite |
13% |
Additional Fees:
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