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Today we highlight a work by New Jersey artist Charles Schreyvogel. As noted on our blog, Schreyvogel gained national attention after a much publicized controversy between the artist and Frederic Remington. Best known for his depictions of horse soldiers of the Indian Wars, Schreyvogel’s Attack on the Herd is a unique composition in that it portrays a cowboy protagonist rather than a cavalryman. The striking canvas engages the viewer, inciting visual curiosity as the exciting spectacle of frontier conflict unfolds. Charles Schreyvogel, Attack on the Herd (Close Call), c. 1907, Oil on canvas, 26 1/8 x 34 1/4 inches [...]

In part three of our ongoing series celebrating the spirit of the stock show, we’ll focus on bucking broncs. While today bronc riding is a classic rodeo sporting event, this skill originates from the working cowboy’s necessary aptitude in horse breaking. The Sid Richardson Museum collection includes many examples of cowboys exercising such skillfulness, with or without success. Charles M. Russell, When Cowboys Get in Trouble (The Mad Cow), 1899, Oil on canvas, 24 x 36 inches “I never got to be a bronk rider but in my youthfull days wanted to be and while that want lasted [...]

While he is better known as a painter, Charles M. Russell was as skillful with clay as he was with paint. As a young boy, he showed natural talent for modeling the heroes and animals of his dreams. Family lore has it that his first clay sculpture was a bear, modeled from clay the four-year-old scraped from his shoes. Critics praised the accuracy of Russell’s observation and animated naturalism of his subjects in both paint and bronze, but many contemporaries considered him more gifted as a sculptor. While Russell’s bronzes lack the refined unity seen in works by his academically [...]