Through its archives, collections, and programming, the Couse-Sharp Historic Site preserves and interprets Taos’s crossroads of cultures, promoting and facilitating research, education, and new perspectives on the Taos Society of Artists, early artists of Taos, and their ongoing legacy.
On view now is an intriguing exhibition that brings that legacy right up to date, “Sun Brothers: Dean, Elliott, Hagege in the Land of Enchantment.” The paintings in it demonstrate New Mexico’s enduring capacity to enchant artists. All of the works on view are for sale, and a portion of the proceeds will support the site as well as the Taos Pueblo Day School Art Fund.
The site’s executive director and curator, Davison Koenig, notes that Glenn Dean, Josh Elliott, and Logan Maxwell Hagege “represent a new generation of artists who are drinking from the same well of inspiration as the painters of the Taos Society of Artists well over a hundred years ago. All have visited our historic site and archive over the past several years, just as they’ve been growing as artists and gaining greater success in the art world. We came up with the idea for them to produce work directly related to Taos people, cultures, and landscapes, and we could not be more excited about the amazing artworks they’ve produced.”
Hagege notes, “The unique light, architecture, and people of Taos Valley attracted the Taos Society artists to the region. These artists from the past feel like long-lost brothers and sisters. Although Glenn, Josh, and I don’t live in the Taos Valley, we are connected to the Taos Society by an invisible artistic lineage that links like-minded artists no matter how much time or space exists between them.”
Dean adds, “I believe there is a brotherhood between artists that is woven throughout time, connecting artist to artist. I believe representational artists across any point in history have dealt with relatively the same (or similar) things in terms of pursuits, struggles, and victories in the development of their work, regardless of the obvious varying outcomes.” He continues, “Josh and Logan are my brothers in art. We have traveled and painted together under the sun for many years, not only in New Mexico but in various locations throughout the West. I believe we share an affinity in our pursuit of art, although our expressions are individual.”
Elliott concludes, “To see where [Eanger Irving] Couse and [Joseph Henry] Sharp created, the environment where they worked, to artists, is almost a sacred experience. I liken it to seeing the light in Paris that inspired the impressionists. It is a tangible connection to the great artists of the past. The work being done at the site will make certain the Taos Society’s legacy remains, and it will deepen the understanding of their relationship to the unique blending of cultures that is Taos.”
At a Glance:
Sun Brothers
Couse-Sharp Historic Site
Taos, New Mexico
couse-sharp.org and sunbrotherstaos.com
through November 15, 2025
