Charles M. Russell - Softcover

Charles M. Russell (1864 - 1926) was an artist of the Old American West. He created more than 2,000 paintings of cowboys, Indians, and landscapes set in the Western US and Canada, in addition to bronze sculptures. Known as 'the cowboy artist', Russell was also a storyteller and author. Russell's mural titled Lewis and Clark Meeting the Flathead Indians hangs in the state capitol building in Helena, Montana. His 1918 painting 'Piegans' sold for $5.6 million at a 2005 auction. He worked as a cowboy for a number of outfits, and documented the harsh winter of 1886-1887 in a number of watercolors. Beginning in 1888, Russell spent a period of time living with the Blood Indians, a branch of the Blackfeet nation. Russell the artist arrived on the cultural scene at a time when the "wild west" was being chronicled and sold back to the public in many forms. The Amon Carter Museum of American Art is located in Fort Worth, Texas. It was established to house Carter's collection of paintings and sculpture by Frederic Remington and Charles M. Russell. Carter's will provided a museum in Fort Worth devoted to American art. His daughter, Ruth Carter Stevenson, carried out his wishes and the museum opened to the public in January 1961. The forward to this book is written by Ms. Stevenson. The author, Frederic G. Renner (1897-1987) was one of the early range management professionals and experts in soil management in the United States. He helped establish the Range Management Society and for the last 40 years, there has been an award given in his name. Great Falls, Montana, native Renner spent his lifetime researching and collecting everything possible about Charlie Russell's life and art. His parents were friends of Charlie and Nancy Russell. The C. M. Russell Museum in Great Falls, Montana, named their library after him.