Couse Exhibit travels

Rockwell's Couse Exhibition travels to Saginaw Art Museum, Saginaw Michigan

February 10, 2009

CORNING, NY - The Rockwell Museum of Western Art's special exhibition, entitled Eanger Couse: A Place in the Sun, now is on view at the Saginaw Art Museum in Saginaw, Michigan. The show traveled to Michigan after being on view at the Rockwell Museum of Western Art in Corning, NY from September 11, 2008 - February 8, 2009. The exhibition includes more than 75 paintings, drawings and photos, including 13 works from the Rockwell Museum's permanent collection and others on loan from the Arnot Art Museum in Elmira, N.Y.; Cornell University's Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art in Ithaca, N.Y.; the Saginaw Club and the Ziibiwing Center in Mount Pleasant, MI. The exhibition was jointly curated by the Rockwell Museum of Western Art and the Saginaw Art Museum.

The Curator of Collections at the Rockwell Museum of Western Art is Sheila K. Hoffman, formerly a director of the Saginaw Art Museum.

On display through May 10, the exhibition is, to-date, the largest single gathering of work by Couse and other members of the Taos Society of Artists..

Born in Saginaw, Michigan but trained in New York and Paris, Eanger Irving Couse became a seminal figure in the landscape of American art. Uniting his academic training with exotic images of the Taos Indians and their pueblo, Couse helped found the Taos Society of Artists in New Mexico, and inspired a new spirit in American art.

Drawing primarily from the collections of the Saginaw Art Museum and the Rockwell Museum of Western Art, this exhibition illuminates the career of this painter, who continues to impact other artists. Works include a private sketchbook and figure drawings that reveal his skill as a draftsman. Bucolic French scenes and other early paintings illustrate the influence of Couse's famed teacher, William Adolph Bouguereau. Later paintings demonstrate the evolution from the pastel pastoral of his European training to the vibrant palette and striking figures of the Southwestern landscape for which he is best remembered. His philosophy and later style reflect his effort "to remove the misconception and contempt in which the Indian has been held, and to show that they are human beings worthy of... a place in the sun."

About the Rockwell Museum of Western Art

Accredited by the American Association of Museums, the Rockwell Museum of Western Art is located in the center of the Finger Lakes Wine Country of New York Sate and in the heart of Corning's Gaffer District. The Museum is open to the public seven days a week; hours are 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Membership to the Museum includes yearlong free admission.

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