In the decades bracketing the turn of the twentieth century, Charles M. Russell depicted the American West in a fresh, personal, and deeply moving way. To this day, Russell is celebrated for his paintings and sculptures of cowboys at work and play, his sensitive portrayals of American Indians, and his superlative representations of landscape and wildlife. This handsome book―a companion volume to the acclaimed Charles M. Russell: A Catalogue Raisonné , edited by B. Byron Price―showcases many of the artist’s best-known works and chronicles the sources and evolution of his style. Here are iconic images that have defined the West in the popular imagination for more than a century. The volume boasts reproductions, most in full color, of more than 150 of Russell’s finest works in oil, bronze, and mixed media. Select examples of his drawings, watercolors, and illustrated letters as well as archival photographs place Russell’s paintings and sculpture in historic and artistic context. This sumptuous volume is an essential addition to the library of every aficionado of American western art. In its pages readers will discover the work of a man whose ideal vision of the American experience continues to stir the spirit nearly a century after his death.
This book contains articles about Charles Russell along with a large compilation of his work from a variety of collections and museums. The main article, by Joan Carpenter Troccoli, divides Russell's work into six sections: cowboys in action; outlaws and those to capture them; interactions between natives and Americans; Indians; mountain men; and animals in the unpeopled wild. The other articles are on a variety of topics relating to Russell and his work.
I learned a lot about how Russell's art developed over time, about Russell himself, and about how Russell and his art was viewed by others. Before reading this I already enjoyed his art; however, now I have a better understanding of it.