Friday, March 19, 2010

Happy birthday, Charles Marion Russell.

Happy 142nd birthday, if my math is correct. But there's a reason I don't teach math (click on any of these to see the larger image).



Anyway, your work has filled my imagination with wonder ever since I first set eyes on and thrilled at the details of an Indian war party...



or a fancifully laid out scene from actual history...



Or the first time I saw a buffalo hunt. Where else are these kinds of images portrayed with better skill and realism.



There's humor there too, like here, where a man comes back to camp and finds it's been invaded by curious critters...



Or here, where a morning breakfast is ruined by an unruly bronc. If you search through Russell's work, you'll be amazed how often he painted this scene.



My own imagination has been enriched and shaken, seeing myself in pictures like this one and wondering what it would have been like to live back then.



What a wonderful job you did for us all, and what a wonderful legacy you left to your country and your people. Here's hopin' you found a rich and wonderful reward, beyond "the pass on the Big Divide."



Happy Birthday Charles M. Russell. We're better off for havin' known ya. Cheers!

6 comments:

NotClauswitz said...

What a nice tribute! When I was a kid overseas Mom read to us a book about the story of his becoming an artist. It rung-home because he lived and traipsed around out-where our Nebraska kin lived similarly, and his work reminds me of that today.

JDP said...

Great tribute FHB I also am a big fan of Russell and also Remington.

JDP

FHB said...

Thanks guys. I enjoyed working on the pictures.

NotClauswitz said...

His stuff could be contemporary - some things just don't change.
That scene with the cowboy on the startled horse kicking over the campfire - that could happen today at an off-road enduro meet with some hungover jackass on a Kawasaki 500 roosting the breakfast crowd and damn-near falling into the fire-pit.
It wasn't me though!

FHB said...

Aaaahahahaha! No doubt.

GUYK said...

I lived in Great Falls for four years where Charles Russel is a legend