Charles Marion Russell is an American artist, illustrator, sculptor, and writer. One of the most famous visual storytellers about the life of the American wild west. He was brave enough to challenge the popular traditional religious theme in the fine arts, which dominated in the United States at that time. His works can be found in the online art gallery charlesmarionrussell.org.
The formation of style
M. Russell was born in 1864, in Missouri. It was the outskirts of the western world. In early childhood, he showed interest in the wild west, drawing cowboys and Indians on the pages of school textbooks. Charles Russell didn`t like tedious schooling. At the age of 16, he left school to never come back to study again. But this didn`t prevent him from achieving great success. Although becoming an artist was not his primary goal, he dreamed of becoming a cowboy. Fascinated by the values of Western culture, he moved to Montana to take a job on a ranch.
In his spare time from hard work, he made sketches of local life. His deep knowledge of life and involvement in culture contributed to the creation of realistic stories that became a characteristic feature of his personal style. Exactly this realism made Charles Russell one of the most sought after and beloved artists of American Western art.
The Fate of the Heritage
After his death in October 1926, C. M. Russell left more than 4,000 works written in oil, watercolors, ink, hundreds of illustrated letters. He also left the descendants of more than 500 sculptures. In the next few decades, he gained many admirers, connoisseurs, and admirers. The items of his unique western art became an adornment not only of antique salons and private collections but also of the highest state and diplomatic institutions, including the White House.
Snowy Forest
For a decade and a half after the death of an outstanding artist, Russel`s widow Nancy, made a huge contribution to the popularization of his work. She organized memorial exhibitions in Europe and America. She also published several books in memory of her ingenious husband. She published some of the artist’s stories and his famous illustrated letters. Nancy Russell, in collaboration with Dan Conway, began work on a biographical sketch about her husband.
As for the sale of Russell’s art objects, Nancy understood very well the dynamics of their prices and made very profitable deals for that time. Exhibitions took place in New York, London, and in the famous Boston galleries. During her life, the lion’s share of sales was occupied by the sculptures of Russell. Sid Willis was one of the first collectors and admirers of Russell’s work. He helped to pass the bill, the Montana state legislature, to place the sculpture of the great artist in the Capitol. The decision was made back in 1929. But there was a disagreement between his wife and the state governor regarding the appointment of a sculptor to work on this project. The issue of honoring the immortalization of Charles Russell lasted for decades. Only in 1959, the bronze statue of Russell took its honorable place in the national sculpture hall of the Capitol.
In 1928, Nancy donated her husband’s studio and works to the city of Great Falls. It became a monumental museum. One of the ardent admirers of the work of Charles Russell was the oilman Frank Phillips. He was the first to buy his paintings. Having acquired his famous bison hunting scene in 1926, he wanted to expand the collection of Russell`s works. Phillips began negotiations with the artist’s widow about the purchase of a large collection. It consisted of 130 bronze sculptures, 90 paintings, and drawings of the great master. Nancy proposed the price of $ 250,000 but did not suit Phillips. After the onset of the Great Depression in 1929, he tried to persuade Nancy to sell the collection for a price below $ 100,000. Their negotiations lasted more than a dozen years and had never succeeded. Philips was content with only a few purchases of Russel`s canvas made elsewhere.
Nancy Russell passed away on May 23, 1940. According to the will, a stockbroker George R. Miller and a family friend Edgar Holland became the stewards of the house, full of paintings and sculptures. Her will was to hand over the collection to a worthy person or museum, which would ensure that his work was properly presented for many generations to come.
In the fall of 1940, George Miller ordered several independent evaluations of Charles Russell`s collection. But both of them didn’t appreciate the work of the great master of American art, in its true worth. A more generous estimate was only $ 24,670. This didn`t coincide with the will of the trustees of the property. To fulfill the conditions of the will, the collection needed to be sold for at least $ 75,000. It was this amount that was announced to Frank Phillips, but he was in no hurry to agree.
In order not to delay the sale, in May 1941, Frank Muller, sells the whole collection to the president of American Airlines, C.R. Smith, for only $ 40,000. Smith spent almost all his resources on this acquisition. So, in the same year, he decided to sell half of the collection to the oilman Homer E. Britzman for $ 20,000. Being also financially limited Britzman soon began to sell parts of his collection. Thus, the will of the late Nancy was not destined to be realized.
Russell’s collection has become a subject of resale and has been sold to various private collections and museums. Although in the middle of the century his works were resold for very modest money. The interest in his work was never wasting away.
Modern value
The beginning of the 20th century was marked by a new surge in the popularity of the works of Charles Russell.
Popular stories depicting the life of the wild west, cowboys, the nature of the winter forest, began to break price records at art auctions. In 2005, his painting Piegans was sold for $ 5.6 million. After 3 years, the oil painting The Hold Up went under the hammer for $ 5.2 million, and a bronze sculpture of Buffalo Hunt for $ 4.1 million.
Piegans
Buffalo Hunt
His masterpieces are constantly growing in price and are in demand among collectors. More than 50 top museums own his paintings. The works of the artist who challenged traditional American art at the end of the 19th century are used in films, books, and history textbooks. Many admirers of the work of Charles Russell love to admire his work in the online art gallery.
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