Charles Marion Russell
With a Good Hoss under Him, It was Easy for an Injun to get Meat, circa 1920-21
Watercolor on paper en grisaille
11 × 18.5 inches
Private collection
Russell, Charles M. (1864-1926)
Lewis and Clark Expedition meeting the Salish Indians, c. 1912
Oil on canvas
H-140 W-296 inches
Montana Historical Society
Art historian Patricia M. Burnham observed, "The final result is grander than could have ever been anticipated. . . . With a sweep of horses, Salish warriors, and tilted lances in the center foreground, Russell brought the action into the visual space of the assembly. By relegating Lewis and Clark to the quiet of the middle ground at right, Russell gives over the most important part of the picture space to Montana's original inhabitants. Nowhere else in the Capitol is the Indian presence in Montana so celebrated." More on this painting
The C. M. Russell Museum Complex in Great Falls, Montana houses more than 2,000 Russell artworks, personal objects, and artifacts. Other major collections are held at the Montana Historical Society in Helena, Montana, the Buffalo Bill Center of the West in Cody, Wyoming, the Amon Carter Museum of American Art in Fort Worth, Texas, and the Sid Richardson Museum in Fort Worth. His mural Lewis and Clark Meeting the Flathead Indians (See above) hangs in the state capitol building in Helena, and his 1918 painting Piegans sold for $5.6 million at a 2005 auction. In 1955, he was inducted into the Hall of Great Westerners of the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum.
Russell, Charles Marion (1864-1926)
Piegans, c. before 1926
I have no further description, at this time
A Piegan raiding party preparing for a dawn foray against their traditional enemies, the Crows. Although under the jurisdiction of the US Indian Bureau and the Indian Police, renewed hostility between the tribes had broken out in 1887, when the Crows moved north in a series of attacks across the Yellowstone River. The Piegan (one of the three Blackfoot tribes) retaliated with horse raids carried out by small bands of volunteers eager for both revenge and personal status. The open grassy plain studded with buttes and the distant snow-covered mountains suggest the landscape of the Crow reservation in southeastern Montana. More on this painting
Art was always a part of Russell's life. Growing up in Missouri, he drew sketches and made clay figures of animals. Russell had an intense interest in the "wild west" and would spend hours reading about it. Russell would watch explorers and fur traders who frequently came through Missouri (See below).
Charles M. Russell (1864-1926)
Detail; The Jerk Line, c. 1912
Oil on canvas
C.M. Russell Museum Collection
Jerk Line is an old time term used by freighters who hauled supplies in huge wagons pulled by teams of six or eight and on some occasions up to twenty animals.
The wagon driver had his hands full of lines or reigns and beside him was a long wooden brake. The brake had a rope tied to it and when he jerked the rope he was able to slow and eventually stop the wagon. Thus the term Jerk Line. When he jerked the line, the wagon stopped. More on Jerk Line
Charles M. Russell
Watching the Settlers, c. 1895
I have no further description, at this time
Charles Marion Russell
Planning the Attack (The Wagon Train), c. 1902
Watercolor on paper
9 × 12 inches
Private collection
Charles Marion Russell
When Horse Flesh Comes High
I have no further description, at this time
Russell left the sheep ranch and found work with Jake Hoover, a hunter and trapper who had become a rancher. He owned land in the Judith Basin. Russell learned much about the ways of the West from him, and the two men remained lifelong friends. After a brief visit in 1882 to his family in Missouri, Russell returned to Montana, and lived and worked there for the remainder of his life.
Charles Marion Russell, 1864 - 1926
THE TENDERFOOT, c. 1900
Gouache on paper laid down on board
20 1/2 by 29 3/4 inches, (52.1 by 75.6 cm)
Private collection
The Tenderfoot exemplifies Russell's ability to show movement convincingly, which was aided by his development as a sculptor, often using clay and wax models as studies to create light and shadow, figure arrangement and individual poses. The bucking horse was a favorite subject of Russell's, and here he demonstrates his keen understanding of human and animal anatomy in motion. The ground is littered with playing cards, a boot, a liquor bottle and a tomato can, further enhancing Russell's personal vision of the West. More on this painting
Charles Marion Russell
Cowboy Roping Steer
Silver Gelatin Print
6 1/2 x 7 in. (16.5 x 17.8 cm)
Gilcrease Museum/The University of Tulsa
Russell, Charles Marion (American, 1864-1926)
Kickover of Morning Coffee Pot, 1896
Watercolor on paper
19 x 28 inches (48.3 x 71.1 cm)
Private collection
Russell, Charles Marion (1864-1926)
Waiting for the Chinook
Watercolour
I have no further description, at this time
He worked as a cowboy for a number of outfits, and documented the harsh winter of 1886–1887 in a number of watercolors. Russell was working on the O-H Ranch in the Judith Basin of Central Montana at the time. The ranch foreman received a letter from the owner, asking how the cattle herd had weathered the winter. In reply, the foreman sent a postcard-sized watercolor that Russell had painted of a gaunt steer being watched by wolves under a gray winter sky. The ranch owner showed the postcard to friends and business acquaintances, and eventually displayed it in a shop window in Helena, Montana. After this, the artist began to receive commissions for new work. Russell's caption on the sketch, Waiting for a Chinook, became the title of the watercolor. Russell later painted a more detailed version of the scene which became one of his best-known works (See above).
Russell, Charles Marion (1864-1926)
Whiskey Smugglers, c. 1913
Oil on canvas
60.96 cm (24 in.) x 91.44 cm (36 in.)I have no further description, at this time
Charles M. Russell (1864 – 1926)
When Law Dulls the Edge of Chance, c. 1915
Oil on canvas
30 x 48 inches
BUFFALO BILL CENTER OF THE WEST
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police held a special place in Charles M. Russell’s heart. Their colorful exploits and heroic deeds made them a likely subject for some of his paintings. While in Alberta in 1888, Russell first encountered the “Red Coats” and was quite impressed by their presence. After seeing them again in 1912 in Calgary, the artist was inspired to paint them. When Law Dulls the Edge of Chance was the last of a series of four paintings about this subject. The theme: The Mounties always get their man. More on the Royal Canadian Mounted Police
Charles Marion Russell (1864–1926)
Single-Handed, c. 1912
I have no further description, at this time
Painting shows a lone Mounted Police attempting to arrest a Blood warrior, most likely in Canada. Though the relationship between the police and the Blackfoot was largely peaceful the Mounted Police imposed laws on the Blackfoot (such as no raiding other tribes) which they found intrusive and hard to understand. More on this painting
Charles Marion Russell (1864–1926)
The Piegans preparing to Steal Horses from the Crows, circa 1888
Oil on canvas
Height: 57.2 cm (22.5 in); Width: 94 cm (37 in)
Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum
Plains Indian culture was highly regimented, with a complex system of honors and sacred symbols obtained in dreams and activated by use and red-earth "seven paint", which gave order to their nomadic life as hunters. The modesty and mobility of their sacred objects reflected, as Ralph T. Coe observed, their "fragile relationship with space, the creator, and with their disciplined world". It was a relationship that captured the imagination of the young artist. His sensitivity to Blackfoot spiritual life is evident here as he shows the warriors' ritual preparation for the raid. As an early observer reported, "Each serious act was preceded by formal smoking." More on this painting
When he returned to the Judith Basin in 1889, he found it filling with settlers. He worked in more open places for a couple of years before settling in the area of Great Falls, Montana, in 1892. There he worked to make a living as a full-time artist.
In 1896, Russell married his wife Nancy. He was 32 and she was 18. In 1897, they moved from the small community of Cascade, Montana to the bustling county seat of Great Falls. Russell spent the majority of the remainder of his life there. He continued with his art, becoming a local celebrity and gaining the acclaim of critics worldwide. As Russell was not skilled in marketing his work, Nancy is generally given credit for making him an internationally known artist. She set up many shows for Russell throughout the United States and in London, creating many followers of Russell.
In 1912 he joined cowboy artist Frank Tenney Johnson on a sketching expedition to the Blackfoot Reservation east of Glacier National Park in Montana.
Charles Marion Russell, 1864 - 1926
BLACKFEET WAR PARTY, c. 1986
Watercolor, gouache and pencil on paper
16 by 23 inches, (40.6 by 58.4 cm)
Private collection
In 1896, Russell married his wife Nancy. He was 32 and she was 18. In 1897, they moved from the small community of Cascade, Montana to the bustling county seat of Great Falls. Russell spent the majority of the remainder of his life there. He continued with his art, becoming a local celebrity and gaining the acclaim of critics worldwide. As Russell was not skilled in marketing his work, Nancy is generally given credit for making him an internationally known artist. She set up many shows for Russell throughout the United States and in London, creating many followers of Russell.
In 1912 he joined cowboy artist Frank Tenney Johnson on a sketching expedition to the Blackfoot Reservation east of Glacier National Park in Montana.
Charles Marion Russell, 1864-1926
THE BATTLE AT BELLY RIVER, c. 1905
Oil on canvas
18 1/4 by 22 1/2 in., (46.4 by 57.2 cm)
Private collection
The Battle of the Belly River was the last major conflict between the Cree (the Iron Confederacy) and the Blackfoot Confederacy, and the last major battle between First Nations on Canadian soil.
The battle took place within the present limits of the city of Lethbridge on the banks of the Oldman River, which at the time of the battle, was called the Belly River. A devastating outbreak of smallpox had reduced the strength of the Blackfoot, and a Cree war party had come south in late October 1870 to take advantage of that weakness. More on this painting
In 1913, Russell painted Wild Horse Hunters (See below), which depicts riders capturing wild horses, each band of which is dominated by a stallion. He used as much color as an artist could on his mountain landscapes. As an artist, Russell emerged at a time when the Wild West was of intense interest to people who lived in cities, and cattle drives were still being conducted over long distances. He painted images of the Old West that were later adopted by Westerns, which became a movie staple.
Charles M. Russell (1864-1926)
Wild Horse Hunters, c. 1913
Oil on canvas
Amon Carter Museum of American Art
On the day of Russell's funeral in 1926, the children in Great Falls were released from school so they could watch the funeral procession. Russell's coffin was displayed in a glass-sided coach, pulled by four black horses.
Russell produced about 4000 works of art, including oil and watercolor paintings, drawings and sculptures in wax, clay, plaster and other materials, some of which were also cast in bronze. More on Charles Marion Russell
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