There are those connoisseurs who can recognize talent by a single line drawn on a canvas, by one brushstroke, even by the impression of a sculptor’s thumb left in bronze. Such is the case with Davison Packard Koenig, the Couse Foundation’s executive director and curator, when referring to a bronze created by Ed Smida (b. 1961), Divided Land, An Homage to Ernest Blumenschein. Completed last year, this expressive sculpture depicts four Native Americans and is featured in a June 15 benefit auction for the foundation, which manages the Couse-Sharp Historic Site in Taos, New Mexico.
“You might look at an early Picasso work, for instance, and see confidence in a line and suddenly realize he’s telling a story with that one mark,” says Koenig. “That’s the way I feel about…
