Charles M. Russell Master Storyteller
LiveAuctionTalk.com
Photo courtesy of Cowan’s Auctions.
People just wanted to hear Charles M. Russell talk or read his writings aloud. He wasn’t only an accomplished artist he was also a skilled storyteller. He gave the world a birds-eye-view into the cultural history of the American West at the turn of the 19th century.
“The Red Man was the true American, They have almost all gone but will never be forgotten. The history of how they fought for their country is written in blood, a stain that time cannot grind out. Their God was the sun, their church all out doors. Their only book was nature and they knew all the pages. ”
The tales he spun around the campfire, transferred onto canvas, molded into three-dimensional clay figures and recorded in his notebook live on today as revered essays into the adventure and romance of western frontier life.
Candid, witty, and kind, with a passion for nature Russell rode the ranges, hunted and trapped game and herded cattle while sketching and painting the life he lived and loved.
“He not only left us great living pictures of what our West was, but he left us an example of how to live in friendship with all mankind. A Real Downright, Honest to God, Haman Being,” Will Rogers said.
Russell was a child of the Old West. He didn’t like seeing Montana and Wyoming being civilized. He didn’t like the new; so he recorded the old in ink, paint, and clay. His dramatic, accurate scenes of cowpunchers, Native Americans and horses provide a passageway into the early days of these states.
His scenes were correct in every detail and usually stressed dramatic instants like a horse teetering at the edge of a cliff rather than the grinding reality of everyday life on the range.
“Nature has been my teacher; I’ll leave it to you whether she was a good one or not,” he said.
People described Russell as friendly, approachable and tolerant. He rode the trails with the cowboys recording every detail of their lives making them seem larger-than-life.
“Spending that many hours in the saddle gave a man plenty of time to think,” he said. “That’s why so many cowboys fancied themselves Philosophers.”
Russell’s writings cover a variety of themes but the topics he depicted most included Northern Plains Indians, encounters between humans and wild animals, colorful cowboys working on the cattle ranges, and 19th century westerners adjusting to the changes in the early-20th century.
“The Red Man was the true American,” he said. “They have almost all gone but will never be forgotten. The history of how they fought for their country is written in blood, a stain that time cannot grind out. Their God was the sun, their church all out doors. Their only book was nature and they knew all the pages.”
He experienced the “old” west before its end and was an accurate historian. He never improved on his cowpunchers and Native American depictions--he painted people the way they were. He created approximately 4,000 works of art during his lifetime.
Russell had a way of showcasing his fantasies and views of the world that everyone could understand.
On Oct. 10, 2019, Cowan’s Auctions, featured two Russell works of art in its James B. Scoville Collection sale.
Here are some current values.
Looking For Trouble; pen and ink with color on paper; signed lower right; 14 inches by 11 inches framed; $17,500.
Inspection of a Permit; pen and ink with watercolor on paper; signed and dated; 1910; with C.M. Russell buffalo skull monogram; with personal salutation; Best Wishes to My Friends the Go-a-longs; throughout his career Russell depicted subjects from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police many times; 20 inches by 16 ½ inches long; $93,750.
