Lot Essay
Charles Marion Russell, known as a cowboy artist, is famous for his dramatic portrayals of life on the frontier. He devoted particular attention to the subject of Native Americans and documented the brief but stirring history of the open cattle ranch. Branding Cattle- A Refractory Cow from 1887 is one such image that poignantly relays the cowboy's life on the open range.
Russell arrived in Helena, Montana in 1880 and over the next several years worked along side Jake Hoover, a meat and hide hunter who supplied his goods to the area ranches. Russell did not condone the actions of the hide hunter, a profession that greatly affected the environment of Montana, but cherished the qualities of freedom, bravery and individualism afforded by the lifestyle he experienced while working with Hoover. These qualities would find direct expression in his art throughout his career.
After his tour with Hoover, Russell worked as a cowboy from the mid-1880s to 1900, a profession that held sacred the same qualities of life that he found while hunting with Hoover. In 1880, the cattle industry was burgeoning on the High Plains in Montana with Texas longhorns. Toward the end of the 1880s, however, overgrazing and a succession of brutal winters greatly diminished the numbers of large herds and forced numerous ranchers into bankruptcy. As a result, cattle were no longer allowed to graze on the open public lands and the uninterrupted, panoramic views of the open grass prairie became sectioned off with the advent of barbed wire.
Throughout his career, Russell captured with great enthusiasm and reverence the trials of life on the open range. As a cowboy artist, his images were derived directly from the experiences he encountered, whether dangerous or amusing, along with his fellow open-range companions. Cattle Branding- A Refractory Cow, according to Ginger K. Renner, documents the roping of an unruly brindle cow branded "OH." This brand signified the property of Preuitt & Phelps, a well established ranch in the Judith Basin. This particular branded brindle cow which Russell always portrayed as mean-spirited, was used several times in his works.
As a young artist, Russell exhibited his works in the window of the well known local store Calkins and Featherly which attracted many viewers. His exhibitions received considerable attention and reviews of his works were found frequently in Montana newspapers such as Helena's Weekly Independent and Weekly Herald. The July 1, 1887 issue of the Helena Independent, according to Ms. Renner, carried the following review of Branding Cattle--A Refractory Cow: "Another picture by CM Russell, "The Cowboy Artist" is on exhibition in Calkins & Featherly's. As the Independent has said before, every picture by this natural artist is better than the last and the remark applies with particular force to this latest production. The subject is a round-up scene. The central group consists of a wild-eyed and vicious looking cow that has just been branded and the rope still on her hind leg is running amouck [sic] over the prairie, while the cowboy at the other end of the rope has thrown his horse on his haunches in attempt to hold her. In the direction in which she is running with her head down in a vicious way are two other mounted cowboys, each with his lariat raised and ready to throw. The whole group is instinct with life and is finished in every detail, even to the slicker' tied behind one of the saddles and the faint dust rising from the grass behind the hooves of the flying animals. In the rear is the herd that is being rounded up, with the herders in the distance rises a range of mountains."
It has been written that Russell, "in addition to documenting an occupation and incidents he knew, his works capture the humor and joy that he saw in the commraderie that these men [cowboys] shared. He looked at their life with the eye of a Romantic but also with a wise understanding of the foibles of fellows and the great adversity they encountered with each work day." (J.K. Broderick, Charles M. Russell: An American Artist, St, Louis, Missouri, 1982, p. 67) Branding Cattle-A Refractory Cow replete with its details of open-range ranch life, offers a rarified glimpse into a memorable time in the history of the West.
Russell arrived in Helena, Montana in 1880 and over the next several years worked along side Jake Hoover, a meat and hide hunter who supplied his goods to the area ranches. Russell did not condone the actions of the hide hunter, a profession that greatly affected the environment of Montana, but cherished the qualities of freedom, bravery and individualism afforded by the lifestyle he experienced while working with Hoover. These qualities would find direct expression in his art throughout his career.
After his tour with Hoover, Russell worked as a cowboy from the mid-1880s to 1900, a profession that held sacred the same qualities of life that he found while hunting with Hoover. In 1880, the cattle industry was burgeoning on the High Plains in Montana with Texas longhorns. Toward the end of the 1880s, however, overgrazing and a succession of brutal winters greatly diminished the numbers of large herds and forced numerous ranchers into bankruptcy. As a result, cattle were no longer allowed to graze on the open public lands and the uninterrupted, panoramic views of the open grass prairie became sectioned off with the advent of barbed wire.
Throughout his career, Russell captured with great enthusiasm and reverence the trials of life on the open range. As a cowboy artist, his images were derived directly from the experiences he encountered, whether dangerous or amusing, along with his fellow open-range companions. Cattle Branding- A Refractory Cow, according to Ginger K. Renner, documents the roping of an unruly brindle cow branded "OH." This brand signified the property of Preuitt & Phelps, a well established ranch in the Judith Basin. This particular branded brindle cow which Russell always portrayed as mean-spirited, was used several times in his works.
As a young artist, Russell exhibited his works in the window of the well known local store Calkins and Featherly which attracted many viewers. His exhibitions received considerable attention and reviews of his works were found frequently in Montana newspapers such as Helena's Weekly Independent and Weekly Herald. The July 1, 1887 issue of the Helena Independent, according to Ms. Renner, carried the following review of Branding Cattle--A Refractory Cow: "Another picture by CM Russell, "The Cowboy Artist" is on exhibition in Calkins & Featherly's. As the Independent has said before, every picture by this natural artist is better than the last and the remark applies with particular force to this latest production. The subject is a round-up scene. The central group consists of a wild-eyed and vicious looking cow that has just been branded and the rope still on her hind leg is running amouck [sic] over the prairie, while the cowboy at the other end of the rope has thrown his horse on his haunches in attempt to hold her. In the direction in which she is running with her head down in a vicious way are two other mounted cowboys, each with his lariat raised and ready to throw. The whole group is instinct with life and is finished in every detail, even to the slicker' tied behind one of the saddles and the faint dust rising from the grass behind the hooves of the flying animals. In the rear is the herd that is being rounded up, with the herders in the distance rises a range of mountains."
It has been written that Russell, "in addition to documenting an occupation and incidents he knew, his works capture the humor and joy that he saw in the commraderie that these men [cowboys] shared. He looked at their life with the eye of a Romantic but also with a wise understanding of the foibles of fellows and the great adversity they encountered with each work day." (J.K. Broderick, Charles M. Russell: An American Artist, St, Louis, Missouri, 1982, p. 67) Branding Cattle-A Refractory Cow replete with its details of open-range ranch life, offers a rarified glimpse into a memorable time in the history of the West.