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CHARLES M. RUSSELL (1864–1926) Following the Bu alo Run, c. 1894
Recorded in Charles M. Russell: A Catalogue Raisonné: CR.ACM.60
At the time of the “great fall hunt” there was no rest nor excuse for her. She must work at any and all hours. If the herds were moving, the success of the hunt might depend on the rapidity with which the women performed their work on a batch of dead bu alo. ese animals
spoil quickly if not disemboweled, and though the hunters tried to regulate the daily kill by the ability of the squaws to “clean up” after them, they could not, in the nature of things, always do so.—Colonel Richard Irving Dodge, Our Wild Indians: irty- ree Years’ Personal Experience Among e Red Men of the Great West: A Popular Account of eir Social Life, Religion, Habits, Traits, Customs, Exploits, Etc. (1883)
By the mid-1890s, when Charlie Russell painted Following the Bu alo Run, he was becoming steeped in the primacy of the bu alo in the Plains Indian culture. In executing the painting, he undertook the challenge of depicting Indian women accompanying their men to process the results of a successful hunt of bison. As Richard Irving Dodge explained in his memoir about his life in the West, “When the bu alo was dead the man’s work was done. It was women’s work to skin and cut up the dead animal; and oftentimes when the men were exceptionally fortunate, the women were obliged to work hard and fast, all night long before their task was nished.” is painting amounts to a testament to C. M. Russell’s progressive and equal artistic treatment of Native men and women in his work. In addition, this image can be viewed as a genre scene in that it captures critical daily aspects of Plains Indian life.
is painting represents an ambitious outcome in Russell’s use of the oil medium. rough a skillful progression, he was laying a technical foundation that over time would ultimately result in many of his greatest masterpieces. Many of the techniques that Russell began using during this period show up repeatedly in his works over subsequent decades. Seen to particular advantage is Russell’s use of a low angle lighting e ect described by Joan Carpenter Troccoli in e Masterworks of Charles M. Russell: A Retrospective of Paintings and Sculpture. It involves casting the foreground in shadow so the key gure “glows in the late afternoon sunlight.” Following the Bu alo Run is one of the rst examples of what Troccoli calls “Russell light.” In addition, Russell’s use of vibrant color in the Hudson’s Bay blanket and elaborate beadwork draws the viewer’s attention to the central matriarchal gure laboring forward with her child on her back while managing her heavily laden travois. e accompanying rider points at some action taking place ahead of them, o the canvas. e colt and dog complete this family unit, and the gures trailing behind give an enhanced sense of depth to the terrain.
In sum, this particularly accomplished work provides useful insights into Russell’s evolution as one of a few outstandingly authentic Anglo-European artists of his generation in his depiction of Native American culture.
As such, Following the Bu alo Run is a worthy precursor to In the Wake of the Bu alo Runners, which he painted seventeen years later. In the Wake of the Bu alo Runners showcases Russell’s improvements in using techniques that were evident in his early work, resulting in a masterful rendition of the Indian woman’s role in the bu alo hunt.
Video highlight: Following the Bu alo Run