March Treasure of the Month

Eanger Irving Couse

In 1979, the Sealy Homestead Trust donated to the Rosenberg Library a number of paintings that once hung in the Sealy Mansion (Open Gates) at the corner of 25th and Broadway in Galveston. Among these was an oil painting by Eanger Irving Couse. Couse was an American painter who lived and worked in New Mexico during the early 1900s. There, he felt inspired by the Indians at Taos Pueblo. Couse used these Indians as models in staged scenes featuring Native-American pottery, textiles, and tools. His paintings depicted the Indians not as savages, but as peaceful, dignified human beings. A highly respected artist during his lifetime, Couse’s work can be found in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Smithsonian Institution.

For March, the Treasure of the Month is an oil painting by American artist Eanger Irving Couse. He painted portraits of Native Americans living at the Taos Pueblo in New Mexico. This particular painting is called "Pueblo Fireplace" and it was done around 1928. It was donated by the Sealy Family in 1979. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Smithsonian, and many other U.S. Museums have paintings by Couse in their collections.

The Rosenberg Library Treasure of the Month can be viewed Monday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The artifact will be on display in the Hutchings Gallery, located on the library’s third floor. For more information, please contact Eleanor Clark at 409-763-8854, ext. 125 or at eclark@rosenberg-library.org.