Page 121 - 2020 Russell Catalogue

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Will Rogers and his son are prominent in the painting’s provenance. Charlie Russell and Will Rogers first met in New York in 1904. As Rogers recalled, “Charlie Russell was trying to sell a few paintings and I was trying to sell a few jokes when I first met him years ago.... We met in the East. Neither of us had much more than carfare.... He went up the ladder of fame a lot faster than I did.”
Roger’s son Will, Jr., has written, “When we first moved to Beverly Hills, Charlie and his wife, Nancy, came several times to visit us. My father was never in doubt as to Russell’s genius.” One time at a picnic at Harry Cary’s ranch attended by Tom Mix, William S. Hart, and other Hollywood stars, Will recalls his father said, “Son, I want you to remember this man. He is a very famous man. Remember that you have seen him. Pay attention and remember what he says.”
“We met many famous people, but never, either before or since, did my father ever single one out to us as he did Charlie Russell.”1
Will Rogers, Jr., “Will Rogers and Charlie Russell,” January 27, 2016, Gilcrease Museum,
1
https://collections.gilcrease.org/articles/article-will-rogers-and-charlie-russell.