| Elk-Foot of the Taos Tribe | |
| Year: | 1909 |
| Height Metric: | 198.755 |
| Width Metric: | 92.3925 |
| Width Imperial: | 78.25 |
| Length Imperial: | 36.375 |
| Metric Unit: | cm |
| Imperial Unit: | in |
| City: | Washington, D.C. |
| Museum: | Smithsonian American Art Museum |
| Accession: | 1910.9.5 |
Elk-Foot of the Taos Tribe is a 1909 painting which is considered to be the masterwork of E. Irving Couse.
The painting was purchased for the United States national art collection by the well-known art collector William T. Evans and is now displayed in the collections of the Smithsonian American Art Museum.
The painting measures 78 1/4 x 36 3/8 in. (198.6 x 92.4 cm.)[1]
Elk-foot, whose anglicized name was Jerry Mirabal, began posing for Couse in 1907 and was one of the painter's favorite subjects because of his "physical beauty and ideal features."[2]
The painting seems inaccurate, however. A coup stick would be carried by North Americans, but not by the Taos tribe. The blanket Elk-Foot wears is from England, and his moccasins were from Couse's studio, and weren't used during the Taos period.