Page 148 - 2020 Russell Catalogue
P. 148

173
EANGER IRVING COUSE (1866–1936) Indian by Firelight, n.d.
oil
24 x 29 inches
Inscription: Lr: E-I-COUSE- N-A-
$75,000–125,000
Like Joseph Henry Sharp, Eanger Irving Couse spent the better part of a decade of his early artistic career classically training in Europe, principally in France. Accordingly, he
was particularly interested in painting human figures but encountered challenges finding subjects who were willing to pose until he moved to Taos. There, he met local Indians who were often inclined to do so, clad in their native attire and moccasins.
In 1909, Couse purchased an old adobe house on Kit Carson Street in Taos, New Mexico. He remodeled the south wing into
a comfortable studio, where most of his paintings depicting interiors, such as this one, were
 completed. The home and studio are now open to the public, and the actual venue for this painting, an interior adobe fireplace, can be seen there. In this painting, one can see how Couse has arranged the figures and objects within the architectural space. The adobe walls and fireplace become a background for the shapes, colors, and lights that are the heart of the composition. The vibrant tones and the firelit center seem to advance beyond the surrounding walls. The reflected glow on the squatting Indian figure, combined with his somber expression as he roasts corn over the coals, conveys a strong sense of languid introspection.
Couse’s granddaughter, Virginia Couse Leavitt, has recently published a highly informative biography on the artist titled Eanger Irving Couse—The Life and Times of an American Artist, 1866–1936. She points out that, “one of
the most important staples of the Indian diet, corn, was also a product with deep religious significance to many American Indians. This sense is not altogether lost in the contemplative attitude with which Couse’s Indian approaches his task.” 1
 PROVENANCE
• [Sotheby’s as By the Fire, 2000]
• Private collection, New York
• Private collection, Texas
1
A copy of Eanger Irvine Couse, The Life and Times of an American Artist, 1866–1936 by Virginia Couse Leavitt will accompany this lot.
 Virginia Couse Leavitt, Eanger Irvine Couse—The Life and Times of an Amerian Artist 1866–1936, University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, Oklahoma, 2019.















































































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