Lot 99
Eanger Irving Couse(1866-1936)Turkey Hunter 24 1/2 x 29 1/4 in. framed 30 1/2 x 35 1/2 in.
7 November 2023, 13:00 PST
Los AngelesSold for US$57,600 inc. premium
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Eanger Irving Couse (1866-1936)
Turkey Hunter
signed 'E.I. Couse N.A.' (lower right)
oil on canvas
24 1/2 x 29 1/4 in.
framed 30 1/2 x 35 1/2 in.
signed 'E.I. Couse N.A.' (lower right)
oil on canvas
24 1/2 x 29 1/4 in.
framed 30 1/2 x 35 1/2 in.
Footnotes
Provenance
Wunderlich and Co., New York, New York.
J.K. Lilly III, acquired from the above, November 9, 1984.
Property from Heritage Museums & Gardens. Sold with authorization from the Board of Trustees to support museum collections.
This painting will be included in Virginia Couse Leavitt's forthcoming catalogue raisonné of the artist's work.
As a founder of the Taos Society of Artists in 1912, Eanger Irving Couse is best remembered for his intimate depictions of Southwest Indians. He spent every summer in Taos, New Mexico from 1902 until 1927. Through the years Couse established close relationships with the local Pueblo Indians who modeled for his paintings. Couse's sensitive and narrative imagery helped change and soften the American public's perception of the Wild West. His paintings were very well received in their day, generating national attention and helping to make Taos a major tourist attraction.
No matter how ordinary everyday life in Taos might have seemed to some, the day-to-day activities of the local Pueblo peoples are what the artist was interested in painting. Couse was particularly fond of the local hunters and loved to follow them on hunts. He would observe the rabbit and turkey hunters as they patiently waited strategically, usually downwind, until just the right moment. Couse frequently used locals as models. They would join the artist in the woods as he experimented with different poses, lighting and settings in an effort to capture an ideal moment. He wanted to make sure that accuracy was maintained while using the scenery to its maximum effect.
Couse returned to the theme of the turkey hunter in several of his paintings. He was particularly taken with the drama of these hunts and how the hunter went through their well-trained routine of stealth and attack, practiced over a lifetime, handed down from fathers to sons. In Turkey Hunter, Couse accentuates the hunter's hiding place by placing him in a well shaded spot in contrast to the bright light beyond in which the unsuspecting turkey stands. There is little question as to what is about to happen. Couse's use of sunlight and shadow makes it clear who is the pursuer and who is about to be pursued.
In Pioneer Artists of Taos, 1983, Laura Bickerstaff writes, "More than in any other aspect except color, Couse was interested in the authenticity of the Indian he was to paint. The more tenaciously they clung to the customs of their forebears, the more genuine they, and therefore the pictures of them, would be." ¹
¹ Laura Bickerstaff, Pioneer Artists of Taos, Denver, Colorado, 1983, p. 80.