Page 151 - 2019 Russell Catalogue

187
CHARLES M. RUSSELL (1864–1926) Untitled (Wolf)
pen and ink on paper
6 1⁄2 x 10 1⁄2 inches
Inscription: Lc: CMR (skull)
PROVENANCE
• Private collection, Colorado
$15,000–20,000
Recorded in Charles M. Russell: A Catalog Raisonné: CR.NE.830
This C.M. Russell pen and ink drawing exemplifies the nobility of the wolf. This is a particularly interesting image given how it contrasts with the artist’s early experiences with this complex and historically controversial creature. As a teenager and young man, Russell personally witnessed many times the “cowboy sport,” his term for the roping of wolves preparatory to their execution due to the threats they posed to cattle generally and especially to newborn calves. Against that backdrop, Russell’s clearly admiring, even regal, depiction of this predatory animal was way ahead of the value judgments of the times in which he lived and thus is both noteworthy and intriguing.
Of Charles Russell’s personal perspective regarding the wolf, author and scholar Rick Stewart writes, “Throughout Russell’s lifetime, the wolf was considered the westerner’s greatest enemy. Enshrouded by age-old fears and mythical beliefs, the wolf stood little chance of being as appreciated or understood as other wild predators like the grizzly bear.”1 Stewart later contrasts this attitude with the artist’s respect for the wolf based personal experience: “[Russell was] sympathetic to the plight of the wolf, at least as far as he could be while maintaining the friendship of many of his Montana peers. Like the Indians, he viewed the wolf as a necessary part of nature, and no less worthy for it.”2
1 Rick Stewart, Charles M. Russell: Sculptor (Amon Carter Museum, Fort Worth, Texas, 1994), 222. 2 Ibid., 223.