Free shipping on orders over $60$5 flat rate under $604 items: 10% off · 8 items: 20% off
You save $77.97
Free shipping over $60 · 30-day returns · Dispatched in 1–2 business days
Nothing softens an entryway like a painted surface. The Sculptor by Eanger Irving Couse arrives as a hand painted oil painting on canvas, offering the fine art detail, soft gradients, and tactile finish that fine art oil painting shoppers look for.
1914
Oil on canvas
Private collection, Williamson, Georgia, by descent.
Eanger Irving Couse was born and raised in the logging town of Saginaw, Michigan, where he drew the Chippewa Indians who lived nearby. He attended the Art Institute of Chicago and the National Academy of Design in New York. At the age of twenty, he traveled to France, where he studied at the Académie Julien under William Adolphe Bouguereau and Tony Robert-Fleury. Couse remained in France for nearly a decade and specialized in painting landscapes and peasant subjects. In 1889, he married fellow art student Virginia Walker, a rancher's daughter from Washington, and in 1891 they settled for a year at the Walker family's ranch in Klickitat County, where Couse produced his first oil paintings of Native Americans.
In 1902, after decades of training in illustrious institutions, Couse heard about Taos through his friend and fellow artist Ernest Blumenschein, who described the incomparable light and fresh subjects that the town's environs had to offer. Enticed, Couse and his wife began spending their summers in Taos, all too happy to leave behind the rat race of New York. In 1910, they refurbished a Spanish monastery into a home and studio. The Taos Society of Artists was formed five years later, and Couse was elected its first president. His paintings from this period readily adopted a brighter palette and indigenous subjects, particularly the Pueblo Indians, whose gentle demeanor and artistic practices reminded him of the Chippewa Indians he had drawn as a boy in Michigan.
Rendered a year prior to the official establishment of the Taos Society of Artists, The Sculptor, 1914 embodies some of the finest qualities of the artist's oeuvre: The romantic subject of the kneeling contemplative lone Indian lost in a seemingly meditative state as he works on the task at hand. Several images of animals appear on the wall, and he is shown meticulously chiseling a new pictograph of a figure into the surface. In describing this subject, Couse wrote, "The Rocky Mountain region abounds in pictographs cut into the rocks by the ancient Indians representing figures of men and animals and symbols of natural phenomenon. Having no written language, the Indians depicted their deeds and legends by pictorial representation on skin or the rocks...."
In April 1915, Couse had a solo exhibition of fourteen paintings at the Braus Galleries in New York, which included the paintings The Sculptor, The Medicine Water, The Pueblo Housetop, and Prayer to the Water God. He decorated the gallery with pottery, moccasins, and other Native American items from his collection to entice patrons. Couse's popularity in Taos continued to grow well after his family permanently settled there in 1927, primarily due to the patronage of the American Lithographic Company, Santa Fe Railroad, and Beacon Manufacturing Company.
The Sculptor, 1914 epitomizes the subject matter and the technical skill of this National Academy graduate that became known as one of the greatest painters of the American West.
We wish to thank Virginia Leavitt, granddaughter of E.I. Couse, for providing invaluable information on this lot, which will be included in her forthcoming Catalogue Raisonné of the artist's work. The artist referred to this painting both as The Sculptor and as Indian Sculptor.
Every hand painted oil painting in this fine art series is finished on artist-grade canvas and checked against the original before it leaves the studio.
Expect subtle, hand-made variation rather than factory uniformity. Each fine art canvas is painted with oils, allowed to cure properly, and inspected before it is approved for shipment.
Wondering where fine art oil painting looks best? Try an entryway mantel, a dining room sideboard, or a hallway gallery wall. The fine art subject reads clearly from a distance and rewards close viewing up near.
Order The Sculptor as a hand painted oil painting on canvas and add lasting classic character to your entryway. Custom sizes, a digital proof before dispatch, and secure worldwide shipping are included.
| Size | Price |
|---|---|
| 20 X 24 in | $77.98 |
| 24 X 36 in | $120.48 |
| 30 X 40 in | $166.48 |
| 36 X 48 in | $221.48 |
| 48 X 72 in | $430.48 |
The sizes shown are the reproduction canvas sizes we paint to order. The dimensions given in a work's description refer to the original artwork and will differ from the sizes offered here. Not sure? Read the size guide or e-mail us.
Free on orders over $60; a flat $5 below that. Dispatched in 1–2 business days; 30 days to send it back. Full policy.
Every canvas is painted by hand in oils on artist-grade stretched canvas, with an extra blank border left for framing. How to care for your painting.
Measurements are on the size guide, or e-mail [email protected] and we reply within one business day.
