Curator’s Corner

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 [...]

Western Treasures reunites significant paintings by Charles M. Russell, Frederic Remington, and their contemporaries with rarely seen paintings from the Museum’s permanent collection, combined with six bronze sculptures by Remington and Russell on loan from private collectors. The exhibition provides an opportunity to celebrate the strength of the collection and gain an appreciation of the early work of Russell, with emphasis on his affinity with the American Indian. Charles Russell, Seeking New Hunting Grounds (Breaking Camp; Indian Women and Children On The Trail), ca. 1891, Oil on canvas, 23 3/4 inches x 35 7/8 inches Seeking New Hunting [...]