hidden pixel

E. Irving Couse Information

Eanger Irving Couse (1866–1936) was an American artist and a founding member and first president of the Taos Society of Artists. He is noted for paintings of Native Americans, New Mexico, and the American Southwest. Asked how to say his name, he told The Literary Digest that it rhymed with house.[1]

Contents

Early life and education

Couse was born in Saginaw, Michigan, where he first started drawing the Chippewa Indians who lived nearby. Couse attended the Art Institute of Chicago, and the National Academy of Design, New York. He left for Paris to study at the École des Beaux-Arts and Académie Julian under Bouguereau. He lived in France 10 years, where he painted charming scenes of the Normandy coast.

Artistic career

The Historian, by E. Irving Couse, painted in 1902.

After his return to America, he devoted himself to depicting the life and habits of the Taos Indians, a Pueblo tribe in New Mexico and was active in the Taos art colony. In 1915, he became one of the founding members of the Taos Society of Artists in Taos, New Mexico.

Among those in public galleries are Elkfoot (National Gallery, Washington); The Forest Camp (Brooklyn Museum); The Tom-Tom Maker (Lotos Club, New York); Medicine Fires (Montclair Gallery, New Jersey); Shapanagons, a Chippewa Chief (Detroit Museum). He was elected to the National Academy of design in 1911.[2] In 1915 when the Taos Society of Artists was formed, Couse was elected its first President.

Early works

Couse's The Captive was exhibited in 1891 at the artist's first solo exhibition, held at the Portland Art Association in Oregon, and then at the Paris Salon of 1892. This large, "salon size" painting was the first Native American subject by Couse, who later achieved fame in America for his paintings of the indigenous peoples of New Mexico. One hundred years later, The Captive was included in the controversial National Museum of American Art exhibition entitled "The West as America." Questions regarding Couse's intent have variously explored the painting's racial, sexual, and social motives.[3]

In 1899, Couse exhibited three paintings at the Boston Art Club: A Cayuse Indian (oil), Maternity (oil), and Yakima Encampment (oil). At the time of this Exhibition, Course listed his current address as the Van Dyck Studios, 939 8th Avenue, NYC.

Later works

The Kachina Painter (1917)

During his career, Couse exhibited widely and won numerous awards at: the Paris Salon, the Art Institute of Chicago, the National Academy of Design (Altman prize, 1916), the Salmagundi Club (Isidor prize, 1917), and was awarded the Lippincott prize from the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts (1921). He received awards from the American Exposition, Buffalo, the Boston Art Club, the Corcoran Gallery and the Panama Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco (silver medal, 1915). His works are held in many museums in the United States and around the world.

Death and legacy

Couse's marker at Sierra View Cemetery

Couse died in Albuquerque, New Mexico in 1936 and is buried at Sierra View Cemetery in Taos.

Notes

  1. ^ Charles Earle Funk, What's the Name, Please?, Funk & Wagnalls, 1936.
  2. ^ New International Encyclopedia
  3. ^ Komanecky, Michael K. and Ballinger, James K. eds. Phoenix Art Museum: Collection Highlights. Harry N. Abrams, Inc. New York: 2002. pg. 60.

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: E. Irving Couse
Paintings
Persondata
Name Couse, E. Irving
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth 1866-09-03
Place of birth Saginaw, Michigan
Date of death 1936-04-26
Place of death Albuquerque, New Mexico

Categories: 1866 births | 1936 deaths | American artists | Artists from New Mexico | Modern artists | People from Saginaw, Michigan | People from Taos County, New Mexico | School of the Art Institute of Chicago alumni | Taos Society of Artists

 

The above information uses material from Wikipedia and is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
Some facts may not have been fully verified for accuracy. [Disclaimers]
This page was last archived by our server on Fri Sep 23 12:33:27 2011.
Displaying this page or its contents does not use any Wikimedia Foundation's resources.
The owners of this site proudly support the Wikimedia Foundation.