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Lot Essay
The present work has been assigned number CR.PC.248 by the Charles M. Russell Catalogue Raisonné Committee.
Famously known as the Cowboy Artist, Charles Marion Russell documented the stirring history of the American frontier, based on his own experiences working on the open range in Montana. Although life in the West at the turn of the century was not for the fainthearted, Russell embraced the rugged atmosphere and thrived on translating and preserving the culture in his art. In his superb watercolor Roping a Wolf, the artist captures the frenzied rush of movement as two cowboys wrangle a wolf that is likely a threat to their herd. Exhibiting Russell’s firsthand knowledge of such sporting traditions, his exceptional ability to narrate a story full of action in a still image, and his brilliant mastery of the watercolor medium, Roping a Wolf fully immerses the viewer in the excitement and drama of a heroic, yet vanishing cowboy lifestyle.
Born in St. Louis, Missouri in 1864, Russell came of age at a time when Buffalo Bill was fast becoming a national hero, and when the memories of such other heroes as Lewis and Clark, Zeb Pike and Kit Carson were still strong. The slogan “Go West Young Man” was well known in every household, and Russell had his own romantic notions of the West. In 1880, immediately following his sixteenth birthday, his father sent him to Montana hoping he would soon be disappointed and return home. Instead “Kid Russell,” as he was soon called, became completely absorbed in the local life, working for the next seven years as a wrangler and night herder. During this time, he carried his watercolors in his bedroll so that he could paint whenever the opportunity presented itself.
Along with the Native American buffalo hunt, the cowboy sport of roping wolves was one of Russell’s more renowned subjects; according to Ginger K. Renner, it inspired more than twenty compositions in both watercolor and oil throughout his career, from his early Cowboy Sport—Roping a Wolf (1890, Sid Richardson Museum, Fort Worth, Texas) to mature works, such as the present Roping a Wolf, dating circa 1918. At the end of the nineteenth century, wolves began to target domesticated livestock, as their natural prey became more sparse. The wolves in turn became a target of the cattlemen protecting their herds on the range. As wolves were known to be aggressive, and often spooked the men’s horses, the task of roping them became an exciting diversion for the cowmen, who would challenge each other to be the one with the lucky lasso. In Russell’s 1890 publication Studies of Western Life by the Cowboy Artist, Granville Stuart describes, “This is a frequent occurrence during the semi-annual roundups. A wolf is started from some ravine, and instantly with a yell every cowboy nearby spurs his horse and dashes after it at headlong speed, utterly regardless of the broken dangerous ground, loosing their lariats from their saddles as they run…Often several mis-throws are made, till some lucky fling catches it…” (n.p.)
In the present work, Russell masterfully commemorates the spirit of this exhilarating exercise. Fellow artist Philip Goodwin noted that Russell had “a remarkable faculty for seizing upon the instantaneous movement of animals in action and nailing it down.” (as quoted in Brian W. Dippie, Looking at Russell, Fort Worth, Texas, 1987, p. 103) Indeed, the present work epitomizes Russell’s consummate skill in capturing motion on paper, from the struggling wolf kicking up dust to the central horse’s straining lean backwards. Its rider mirrors the pose, body angling back to rein in both the horse and wolf, even while his neck, complete with archetypal red kerchief, leans into the fight. The distant rider races towards the scene, his mount clearly wary as he emerges from clouds of rising dirt. Gestural lines in pencil and watercolor suggest the frenetic movement of the cowboys’ ropes as they respectively loop a lasso and try to reel in the mark. At the same time, little details, from glinting spurs on boots to the intricate saddle and gun holster, ground the compelling action and add an immersive richness to the composition. Russell’s skilled use of both broad washes of color and minute brushstrokes to create his captivating scene demonstrate his position among the leading watercolorists of American art history.
Because Russell, unlike most of his contemporary artists, actually lived the Western life he depicted in his art, his paintings are especially accurate in the way they memorialize cowboy traditions, down to the exact methods and movements of those who inhabited the Western landscape alongside him. As embodied by the present work, Arthur Hoeber declared of Russell in 1911, “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 past." (as quoted in P. Hassrick, Charles M. Russell, New York, 1989, p. 101) Roping a Wolf stands among the best of these visual records memorialized by the master watercolorist and true American cowboy, Charlie Russell.
Famously known as the Cowboy Artist, Charles Marion Russell documented the stirring history of the American frontier, based on his own experiences working on the open range in Montana. Although life in the West at the turn of the century was not for the fainthearted, Russell embraced the rugged atmosphere and thrived on translating and preserving the culture in his art. In his superb watercolor Roping a Wolf, the artist captures the frenzied rush of movement as two cowboys wrangle a wolf that is likely a threat to their herd. Exhibiting Russell’s firsthand knowledge of such sporting traditions, his exceptional ability to narrate a story full of action in a still image, and his brilliant mastery of the watercolor medium, Roping a Wolf fully immerses the viewer in the excitement and drama of a heroic, yet vanishing cowboy lifestyle.
Born in St. Louis, Missouri in 1864, Russell came of age at a time when Buffalo Bill was fast becoming a national hero, and when the memories of such other heroes as Lewis and Clark, Zeb Pike and Kit Carson were still strong. The slogan “Go West Young Man” was well known in every household, and Russell had his own romantic notions of the West. In 1880, immediately following his sixteenth birthday, his father sent him to Montana hoping he would soon be disappointed and return home. Instead “Kid Russell,” as he was soon called, became completely absorbed in the local life, working for the next seven years as a wrangler and night herder. During this time, he carried his watercolors in his bedroll so that he could paint whenever the opportunity presented itself.
Along with the Native American buffalo hunt, the cowboy sport of roping wolves was one of Russell’s more renowned subjects; according to Ginger K. Renner, it inspired more than twenty compositions in both watercolor and oil throughout his career, from his early Cowboy Sport—Roping a Wolf (1890, Sid Richardson Museum, Fort Worth, Texas) to mature works, such as the present Roping a Wolf, dating circa 1918. At the end of the nineteenth century, wolves began to target domesticated livestock, as their natural prey became more sparse. The wolves in turn became a target of the cattlemen protecting their herds on the range. As wolves were known to be aggressive, and often spooked the men’s horses, the task of roping them became an exciting diversion for the cowmen, who would challenge each other to be the one with the lucky lasso. In Russell’s 1890 publication Studies of Western Life by the Cowboy Artist, Granville Stuart describes, “This is a frequent occurrence during the semi-annual roundups. A wolf is started from some ravine, and instantly with a yell every cowboy nearby spurs his horse and dashes after it at headlong speed, utterly regardless of the broken dangerous ground, loosing their lariats from their saddles as they run…Often several mis-throws are made, till some lucky fling catches it…” (n.p.)
In the present work, Russell masterfully commemorates the spirit of this exhilarating exercise. Fellow artist Philip Goodwin noted that Russell had “a remarkable faculty for seizing upon the instantaneous movement of animals in action and nailing it down.” (as quoted in Brian W. Dippie, Looking at Russell, Fort Worth, Texas, 1987, p. 103) Indeed, the present work epitomizes Russell’s consummate skill in capturing motion on paper, from the struggling wolf kicking up dust to the central horse’s straining lean backwards. Its rider mirrors the pose, body angling back to rein in both the horse and wolf, even while his neck, complete with archetypal red kerchief, leans into the fight. The distant rider races towards the scene, his mount clearly wary as he emerges from clouds of rising dirt. Gestural lines in pencil and watercolor suggest the frenetic movement of the cowboys’ ropes as they respectively loop a lasso and try to reel in the mark. At the same time, little details, from glinting spurs on boots to the intricate saddle and gun holster, ground the compelling action and add an immersive richness to the composition. Russell’s skilled use of both broad washes of color and minute brushstrokes to create his captivating scene demonstrate his position among the leading watercolorists of American art history.
Because Russell, unlike most of his contemporary artists, actually lived the Western life he depicted in his art, his paintings are especially accurate in the way they memorialize cowboy traditions, down to the exact methods and movements of those who inhabited the Western landscape alongside him. As embodied by the present work, Arthur Hoeber declared of Russell in 1911, “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 past." (as quoted in P. Hassrick, Charles M. Russell, New York, 1989, p. 101) Roping a Wolf stands among the best of these visual records memorialized by the master watercolorist and true American cowboy, Charlie Russell.