Montana's Charles M. Russell by Peter Reum
Montana's history regarding Western Art always begins with a nod to the person who put Montana on the map for his studies of Indigenous Tribes, Cowboys, and most of all...the wide open landscape and wildlife of Montana. His paintings and drawings were born from personal experience on Montana cattle ranches, time spent with the Blood Division of the Blackfoot Tribe, and years spent observing everyday life in the wild country of Montana. While alive, Mr. Russell was considered the premier citizen of his adopted hometown, Great Falls, Montana, and his name appears throughout Northern Montana honoring his life and his work. The Museum which bears his name is the home of one of the largest single displays of his art, although his work may be found around the world. His prolific work produced over 4000 known paintings, bronzes, and drawings.
The Early Years-Charlie's Imagination is Fired
Mr. Russell's life began in St. Louis, Missouri in 1864. His early years were filled with an intense interest in some of the books and illustrated publications that circulated in the USA initially, then later drew interest in Europe, bringing many wealthy Europeans to the West to experience firsthand the wonder pictured and written about. Such periodicals lionized many men whose reputations grew as "winners of the West." Two with strong Montana and Wyoming ties were Colonel William F. (Buffalo Bill) Cody, and the infamous George Armstrong Custer, whose reputation was built fighting Indigenous Tribes in the West. Even at the beginning, in Missouri, Russell's imagination was engaged and his artistic drive spawned early drawings and sketches. Living near the Gate to the West, St. Louis, Russell was a firsthand observer of numerous fortune seekers and explorers who passed through St. Louis on their way west. The California Gold Rush, The Pony Express, the Santa Fe Trail, the Powell Expedition, the Lewis and Clark Expedition, and countless other ventures saw their beginnings in Missouri or near St. Louis.
There was an expectation that upon becoming a grown man, Charles Marion Russell would join his family's Oak Hill, Missouri business. Founded by Charlie Russell's grandfather, James Russell, he and Lucy Bent Russell had Charles Silas Russell, Charlie Russell's father, along with siblings Julia,John, and Russella. The family's Oak Hill property gave young Charles Marion Russell the chance to engage in elements of the frontier lifestyle that was disappearing even as he was becoming aware of it. All of Charlie's aunts and his uncle lived on the Oak Hill property and young Charlie had the run of the property. Charles Silas Russell married Charlie's mother, Mary Elizabeth Mead in 1858. Charlie was born in 1864 in St. Louis, the third of six surviving children. The family moved from St. Louis to Oak Hill when Charlie was 5, in 1869. To hear Charlie Russell tell his history, one would have reckoned that he was raised on the fringe of the wild. In fact by the time Charlie and his family moved to Oak Hill, the property had been incorporated into the city of St. Louis.
Charlie Russell's imagination was captured early in life by the pulp serials glorifying the conquering of the West, with Manifest Destiny pushing settlers ever westward, impinging upon the lands of dozens of Indigenous Peoples. Perhaps due to his own dysgraphia, Charlie saw himself as lacking in formal studies in school, although he read voraciously. Street and Smith, later publishers of the famous baseball annual, and Beadle and Adams published endless streams of serial Westerns which fired Charlie's imagination. The novels of James Fenimore Cooper added further fire to Charlie's vivid desire to "Go West, young man!" (Taliaferro, 1996-pp. 20-22)
General George Armstrong Custer
Colonel William F. (Buffalo Bill) Cody
Mr. Russell's family was relatively prosperous, and his Grandmother, Lucy Bent was related to William Bent who founded Bent's Trading Fort in Southeastern Colorado at the confluence of the Purgatoire and Arkansas Rivers along the recently established Santa Fe Trail. Charles Bent, instrumental in the establishment of the Santa Fe Trail, was later married to a Spanish/Mexican woman in New Mexico in Taos. Charles bent was named the first New Mexico Territorial Governor in 1846 during the Mexican War. Brother William married a Cheyenne woman who had sons Charles and George, who fought as Confederates in the Civil War, and later became Cheyenne warriors fighting the U.S. Cavalry in the Sand Creek Massacre aftermath in 1864 (Taliaferro, 1996-pp14-17).
The Santa Fe Trail With Indigenous Homelands Noted
(Map by visitlajunta.com)
There was an expectation that upon becoming a grown man, Charles Marion Russell would join his family's Oak Hill, Missouri business. Founded by Charlie Russell's grandfather, James Russell, he and Lucy Bent Russell had Charles Silas Russell, Charlie Russell's father, along with siblings Julia,John, and Russella. The family's Oak Hill property gave young Charles Marion Russell the chance to engage in elements of the frontier lifestyle that was disappearing even as he was becoming aware of it. All of Charlie's aunts and his uncle lived on the Oak Hill property and young Charlie had the run of the property. Charles Silas Russell married Charlie's mother, Mary Elizabeth Mead in 1858. Charlie was born in 1864 in St. Louis, the third of six surviving children. The family moved from St. Louis to Oak Hill when Charlie was 5, in 1869. To hear Charlie Russell tell his history, one would have reckoned that he was raised on the fringe of the wild. In fact by the time Charlie and his family moved to Oak Hill, the property had been incorporated into the city of St. Louis.
Charlie Russell's imagination was captured early in life by the pulp serials glorifying the conquering of the West, with Manifest Destiny pushing settlers ever westward, impinging upon the lands of dozens of Indigenous Peoples. Perhaps due to his own dysgraphia, Charlie saw himself as lacking in formal studies in school, although he read voraciously. Street and Smith, later publishers of the famous baseball annual, and Beadle and Adams published endless streams of serial Westerns which fired Charlie's imagination. The novels of James Fenimore Cooper added further fire to Charlie's vivid desire to "Go West, young man!" (Taliaferro, 1996-pp. 20-22)
Beadle and Adams Buffalo Bill Dime Novel
Courtesy National Cowboy Museum
Street and Smith Buffalo Bill Dime Novel
Courtesy University of Missouri Library
Beadles and Adams-Dime Novel Publishers
Charles Marion Russell went deeply into the mythical picture painted in words by a number of authors, and his ideas about the West were beginning to gel before he ever left St. Louis. His dysgraphia led to a hardship expressing his ideas in writing, and his experiences in school led to clowning around and truancy. His parents were confounded by his writing issues, and to their credit, recognized Charlie's fondness for drawing and encouraged him even exposing him to several of the artist's works who passed through or lived in or near St. Louis. Painter Karl F. Wimar, whose works were popular among the well to do in St. Louis, was the major early influence upon Charlie Russell, who especially admired his realistic portrayals of Western Life, especially Indigenous People and wildlife. Although his parents wanted him formally trained in art, Charles Marion Russell's formal art training consisted of 2 or 3 days of art training at Washington University. A three month enrollment in a military school was a dismal experience despite Charles Silas Russell's hope ghat his son would flourish in a more disciplined environment. In fact, the experience only solidified Charlie Russell's determination to head West, and shortly after getting back to St. Louis from the term in military school, he set out for Montana a few days short of his sixteenth birthday (Taliaferro, 1996-pp. 25-27).
The Weak Never Started-Karl F. Wimar 1858
University of Texas Art Museum
Attack Upon An Emigrant Train-Karl F. Wimar 1859
Next-The Cowboy Artist-Charles Russell's Early Years in Montana
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