Charles M. Russell

Rating:
Summary: "THE" COWBOY ARTIST
Review: Art critics spend much time arguing about the value of western art and as to whether it can really be classified as art at all. Some of the more snobby critics attempt to discredit western painters by referring to them as "illustrators" as if that changes anything. They argue that if an artist is commissioned by other than the loftiest of patrons or if their work is used primarily to illuminate a story then their art can only be classified as illustration and not as fine art.

As an art student I argued this one ad nauseam with my art professors. And invariably the work of Charles Marion Russell, my favorite ARTIST - period - would arise. But that's enough about small-minded art professors and their unwillingness to accept art wherever they find it.

The work of Charles Marion Russell (hereafter CM Russell) is accepted by thousands as arguably the best of the western genre. It remains the standard against which all other western pieces are judged. Russell also was an accomplished western wit who drew and kept the fast friendship of the king of western wit, Will Rogers. In his book Charles M. Russell: The Life and Legend of America's Cowboy Artist, John Taliaferro not only discusses the art achievements of Russell but also provides a biography that paints the life of the artist and the west Russell knew so well in the most vivid colors possible. And indeed CM Russell was the most colorful of characters.

Read this book and I'll bet you will at least become the owner of a CM Russell print and at most plan a pilgrimage to Great Falls to visit CM Russell's museum, studio and home.

Rating:
Summary: "No one comes close"!
Review: As a young boy he heard the words of Horace Greely, and indeed went west to seek fame, fortune, and adventure. After two years with Jake Hoover in the Judith, his dreams of wranglin', and ropin' came true at the O H ranch. Over time the home of the "Big Sky Country" became his perminant domain, and his mother Miss Montana, she blessed her son with a gift that would speek for many of his kind that ventured before him. He illustrated with brush, and canvas. He wrote in scripture, and sculptured in bronze. With his gift, C M Russell was able to protray what it was like to live in a time when spurs, the six-gun, and the feel of leather was a cowhands only cherrished parcel. He became the "Cowboys Cowboy", and the voice of the "Red-Man". Montana's dearest son had done what she wanted him to do. Russell for those who knew him was Loving, Kind, and Loyal. He never forgot his roots, no matter where he traveled. In the end Montana was more than proud of him. For she had raised him as Montanan. Over the years he became a Montanan. And at the end of the trail, he was buried as a Montanan.