Coeur d'Alene Art Auction - July 2021

– 92 – 117 Eanger Irving Couse (1866–1936) Two Indian Children oil on board 12 × 16 inches signed lower left: E. I. Couse N. A. VERSO Titled Two Indian Children will be included in the E. I. Couse Catalogue Raisonné . According to Virginia Couse Leavitt, “Couse’s favorite model, Ben Lujan, fromTaos Pueblo, had nine children, many of whom posed for him over the years. Ben’s oldest daughter, Santanita, and oldest son, Eliseo, appear in this painting of two children seated on a river bank in the moonlight. On the left, the two children, illuminated by the moonlight, are set against a dark background of trees. Contrasted to that, on the right is a moonlit view of the distant shore. “Couse is famous for his tonal paintings such as this, both moonlight or firelight scenes. His lifelong interest in painting the qualities of light goes back to his French period as a student at the Académie Julian and his subsequent years living in the art colony at Étaples. After arriving in Taos in 1902, however, the brilliant light and colors of NewMexico transformed the impressionist palette of his earlier work into the rich palette for which he is best known today.” PROVENANCE The artist Private collection, Florida, 1930 Private collection, by descent Rob Day, Austin, Texas, 2009 $40,000–60,000