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Lot Essay
Charles Marion Russell is renowned for his dramatic portrayals of life on the great Western frontier. Throughout his career he documented the brief but stirring history of the cowboy and the open cattle ranch. After 1890, he began to focus with great enthusiasm and reverence on the Native Americans he encountered and their relationship with white settlers. The Attack from 1897 is one such image that dramatically recalls the danger and excitement of the High Plains of Montana. In 1911, Arthur Hoeber commented, "He paints the West that has passed from an intimate knowledge of it; for he was there in the midst of it all, and he has the tang of its spirit in his blood. He has recorded something of the earlier days in the life of that country, of its people, of their curious ways and occupations, a life that has practically passed." (as quoted in P. Hassrick, Charles M. Russell, New York, 1989, p. 101)
Russell, a self-taught artist, arrived in Helena, Montana from St. Louis in 1880 at the age of sixteen where he worked as a ranch hand tending sheep. Seeking greater adventure, he quickly moved onto an apprenticeship with a hunter and trapper, and then worked on a cattle ranch as a cowboy. During these years Russell frequently encountered Native Americans throughout Montana and the Canadian territory. He assembled a large collection of Indian artifacts including clothing, weapons and daily objects from various tribes. The artist also learned the Native American sign language and maintained life-long friendships with members of several Montana tribes. Through these connections, Russell learned the details of a quickly vanishing way of life.
By 1893, Russell decided to pursue a career as a full-time artist and illustrator, leaving behind his life on the High Plains as a cowboy. The Attack demonstrates his true love for the West, both in his keen observation and his ability to capture the heroism and hazards that he regularly encountered. Much of the power of Russell's finest paintings, including the present work, lies in their ability to convey his intimate knowledge of and respect for those who inhabited the West. His superior draftsmanship allowed him to render the infinite details of the figures' forms and dress, while his fluid brushwork provides the composition with its sense of movement and dramatic tension. His use of color not only improves the accuracy of the image, but his broad use of soft washes contributes to the overall effect of the Western landscape.
Set against the sweeping plains of Montana, Russell imbues The Attack with an intense energy and movement captured in the charging horses and Native Americans taking aim with their bows and arrows. Not content with glossing over details, Russell has included some of the more gruesome aspects of the encounter, including the collapse of a Native American and his horse. This adds a characteristic sense of theatricality to the work, further heightening its drama. Like all of Russell's best works, The Attack demonstrates the effects of his experience and training, as he captures at once both the finest details and the basic essence of his subjects.
In The Attack, Russell immortalizes the danger and excitement of the vanishing frontier. Peter Hassrick writes of the artist's impact, "He had shaped the Western Myth...provided its standards, and given birth to its popularity. His legacy is America's treasure." (Charles M. Russell, p. 144) Today works such as The Attack remain as pictorial icons of a bygone era in American history.
Special thank you to Mrs. Frederic G. Renner and Mr. Byron Price for their assistance with the cataloguing of this lot.
Russell, a self-taught artist, arrived in Helena, Montana from St. Louis in 1880 at the age of sixteen where he worked as a ranch hand tending sheep. Seeking greater adventure, he quickly moved onto an apprenticeship with a hunter and trapper, and then worked on a cattle ranch as a cowboy. During these years Russell frequently encountered Native Americans throughout Montana and the Canadian territory. He assembled a large collection of Indian artifacts including clothing, weapons and daily objects from various tribes. The artist also learned the Native American sign language and maintained life-long friendships with members of several Montana tribes. Through these connections, Russell learned the details of a quickly vanishing way of life.
By 1893, Russell decided to pursue a career as a full-time artist and illustrator, leaving behind his life on the High Plains as a cowboy. The Attack demonstrates his true love for the West, both in his keen observation and his ability to capture the heroism and hazards that he regularly encountered. Much of the power of Russell's finest paintings, including the present work, lies in their ability to convey his intimate knowledge of and respect for those who inhabited the West. His superior draftsmanship allowed him to render the infinite details of the figures' forms and dress, while his fluid brushwork provides the composition with its sense of movement and dramatic tension. His use of color not only improves the accuracy of the image, but his broad use of soft washes contributes to the overall effect of the Western landscape.
Set against the sweeping plains of Montana, Russell imbues The Attack with an intense energy and movement captured in the charging horses and Native Americans taking aim with their bows and arrows. Not content with glossing over details, Russell has included some of the more gruesome aspects of the encounter, including the collapse of a Native American and his horse. This adds a characteristic sense of theatricality to the work, further heightening its drama. Like all of Russell's best works, The Attack demonstrates the effects of his experience and training, as he captures at once both the finest details and the basic essence of his subjects.
In The Attack, Russell immortalizes the danger and excitement of the vanishing frontier. Peter Hassrick writes of the artist's impact, "He had shaped the Western Myth...provided its standards, and given birth to its popularity. His legacy is America's treasure." (Charles M. Russell, p. 144) Today works such as The Attack remain as pictorial icons of a bygone era in American history.
Special thank you to Mrs. Frederic G. Renner and Mr. Byron Price for their assistance with the cataloguing of this lot.