Eanger Irving Couse

Born in Saginaw, Michigan, Eanger Couse is primarily known for paintings of Taos Pueblo Indian males sitting or squatting by camp fire light, suggesting that Indians were peaceful, dignified human beings and not the savages of Western lore.

In 1902, Couse visited Taos, New Mexico for the first time, having heard about it from his friend, Joseph Henry Sharp. In Pueblo Indians, Couse found the subject matter that seemed right for him, but he had difficulty finding ones to pose because of their belief that the soul of the sitter passes into the picture once it is completed.

In 1912, when the Taos Society of Artists was formed, he was elected its first president, and in 1927, he and his family moved there permanently.

His models for most of his New Mexico Indian figure painting were Ben Lujan and Geronimo Gomez, Taos Pueblo residents. The tone is poetic and peaceful and reflects a civilization that is at peace with itself. Usually, the squatting Indian figures were engaged in domestic activity such as preparing food, and their handsome physiques were accentuated by moonlight.