The old west American painter Charles Marion Russell is known as the cowboy artist of all generations. He created several paintings of cowboys, landscapes, and Indians in the western union. His legacy of artworks comprises more than 2,000 paintings crafted by him. The C.M. Russell Museum in Great Falls captures most of his fantastic collection of artworks.
Charles was an artist from the new age technologies and sprawling cities with intriguing interests and transformations to offer. Being able to observe such dynamic shifts and process them through everyday artworks was a thing for Russell. The fusion-modern artist conveyed interesting topics to express his thoughts on the developing world.
Scroll down the segment below to know more about the collection of Charles Marion Russell paintings that can be a great gift. Get deep insights into these paintings, their ideas, and the core subject.
Notable Artworks by The Cowboy Artist
The sky was the limit for Charles Russell artist from America. He painted his heart through his artworks that concluded a lot of vivid topics. Not just landscapes and nature-inspired him, but historical monuments and everyday life scenarios were his subjects of interest. His portraiture focused on talking points having a stronghold on the Native American points of view.
He shared explicit detailing and meticulous authenticity while depicting the undercurrents of society. His uptake on clothing and equipment of cowboys through his illustrations showcase the artist’s profound observational skills.
Other than paintings, he tried to endure the art of making sculptures. This also proved successful for the cowboy artist. The Cryer, a bronze sculpture by him, is a beautiful art craft. Fascinated by Indian themes, he drew many enchanting scenes of Indian origin. The Marriage Ceremony, 1894, is one such fantastic oil on canvas by him.
Women Paintings
Apart from cowboy paintings, Russell tried his hands on women’s portraiture. There was a fathomless understanding of his women’s portraiture. Charles’s ideas on women’s paintings revolve around the contrasting levels of the sensuality of white women and native women. It seems as if he transferred the moral standards of sexuality from white women to native women.
His depictions of white women are pure and non-sexual, unlike the other century artists that practiced nude portraiture. Instead, it is a series of five Keeoma paintings that render women seductive images. This series is documented by stating that Keeoma was the woman Russell loved.
Water for Camp by him is an everyday depiction of native American women collecting water by the seaside. It reflects his interest in mundane aspects of women’s life. The Rodeo Girl and The Lolly are his other unique artworks dedicated to women.
When the Land Belonged to God
In 1914, Charles Russell painted the masterpiece When The Land Belonged to God. The exotic painting is set over the Missouri river in the daytime. The Missouri River lies a few miles away from the downstream of Fort Benton. The aesthetically illustrated painting showcases a group of bison standing with dripping fur and standing backs.
They all stand momentarily still on a rocky knoll covering the painting’s foreground. However, their presence in the artwork dominates the entire image and narration of the painting. Behind the group lies a never-ending trail of buffaloes going downhill and are crossing the river.
Helena’s famed Montana Club commissioned the very painting. In the mid-1970s, the historical society negotiated it from the Montana Club because of the collapsing financial position of the club.
When the Land Belonged to God – Charles Marion Russell
Deer in Forest (White-Tailed Deer)
In 1917, Charles Russel completed the gorgeous wildlife painting, Deer in Forest. It is made using an unusual color palette that exemplifies a woodsy atmosphere. The ambiance of the creativity speaks quite surreal. The portraiture embarks dim lighting, mossy greens in the background, and darker shadows.
His deep fascination for nature brought to life its mysteries and unknowns. In the extremes of dark wildlife, he depicts a white-tailed deer frolic in the open, unafraid and brave. In addition, there is a partridge, a short-tailed bird primarily found in the European and Asian regions, visible in the painting.
Deer in a Snowy Forest – Charles Marion Russell
In the Enemy’s Country
The scene in this painting is imaginary and inspired by his personal experiences in Montana. A specialty to Russell paintings is that they have a hidden mystery lying inside the artwork. They narrate a story giving hints from the past and future. In the first place, this painting was described as a group of Kootenia Indians trying to hunt buffaloes in a region of another tribe.
Because they have entered a restricted area, they have to take measures to avoid conflict and be safe. So the men walk behind their horses and place buffalo hides on the horsebacks. However, when looked at from a different angle, it seems like a small band of buffaloes is distant from them to avoid botheration.
Wild Horse Hunters
In earlier times, small bands of wild horses were dominated by a stallion that roamed throughout the regions of the West and especially in Montana. In Wild West Hunters, a group of riders has cornered one such band at the end of a dry gully. Amidst the rush, one rider tries to converge on the frightened horse by flinging his lariat across the gully to rope the stallion.
The rider has somehow wrapped his lariat around the saddle. He deftly swings his weight off the saddle to counterbalance the pull of the taut rope. Russell painted this scene through his color and added effects that were true to life in the Montana landscape.
The Bottom Line
The cowboy artist was no ordinary artist. In a true sense, he was an inspiration that continues to impress us with his different approach to art. The subjects he chose and the topics he covered through his paintings leave us all awe-inspiring. All the precedent paintings in the above section contribute to the best of his portraiture and make them a perfect gift painting for someone special.
