Page 26 - 2021 March Sealed Bid Catalogue

Lot 11—CHARLES M. RUSSELL—Peace, 1890
Charlie Russell created this oil on a unique, concave substrate in 1890. Peace serves as an impressive example of the artist’s natural abilities of color and composition. The work is even more interesting when the date of its creation considered within the artist’s personal and professional biography.
As the 19th century began to count down, Frederic Remington, another artist/illustrator in the western genre,
was gaining national recognition. For Russell, Remington’s successes were sure to open the possibility of a career as a western artist. This very well may have contributed to 1890 being the Russell’s most artistically productive year to date.16 Although Russell and Remington gravitated toward similar subjects, the difference in their relationship with those subjects varied completely. Russell’s years in the saddle and immersion in the culture of what he painted, sculpted, and drew earned him right to be known as Montana’s cowboy artist.
Another likely contributing factor to the increase in Charlie’s inspiration during this time was one such immersive experience. Not long before creating Peace, Russell spent a considerable amount of time in High River, Canada with friends B.J. Stillwell and Phil Weinard. In doing so, he had access to five different Indian communities very near to the cabin in which the friends stayed. This proximity would have afforded Russell a wealth of insights and inspirations. Although the details of this time in Russell’s life are sometimes debated and exaggerated, this experience would have filled the artist’s mind with ideas while molding his perspective on Native cultures.17
Peace depicts a favorite subject for which the artist is known. Russell’s respect for the Native subject is as apparent as the detailed accoutrements, the clouds in the sky and the sage in the foreground. This unique work is a perfect example of how, and why, this genuine respect led Russell to return to certain subjects time and time again. In his biography on Charles M. Russell, John Taliaferro writes: He painted these over and over, often without slight variation, and not just to lean on a compositional crutch. These images were like melodies; he knew them by heart, just as he had memorized the landmarks he put in so many paintings...”18