Every year, the Russell Exhibition & Sale at the C.M. Russell Museum is enhanced by the Russell Skull Society of Artists Suites. Held at the Mansfield Convention Center about a mile from the museum, the Russell Skull Society event gives visitors the opportunity to visit artists’ booths and meet face-to-face with the artists themselves. It’s another element of what makes Western Art Week so anticipated each year.
The Russell Skull Society’s presentation during the 2019 exhibition.
“I feel there’s no better way to view artwork than to have an artist describe their process and give you their story firsthand. It adds an immediate story to a new piece in your collection,” says Duane Braaten, director of art and philanthropy at the C.M. Russell Museum. Artists who are part of the Russell Skull Society are some of the best that Western art has to offer, accepted into the respected group based on their artistic accolades and long-time support of the museum in various capacities. “The presentation of the Russell Skull Society artists is always one of the most exciting surprises of the week. I really look forward to seeing what those artists have been working on all year and what their freshest works straight off the easel look like. It’s always a really great opportunity to see what the artists have created,” says Braaten.
Jennifer Johnson, The West That Has Passed, oil, 60 x 48”
Andy Thomas, A Flash of Defiance, oil, 32 x 40”
Artists participating in the event this year include Jennifer Johnson, Nancy Dunlop Cawdrey, Don Oelze, Carol Hagan, Randy Van Beek, Chris Owen, Andy Thomas, Troy Collins and many others.
The West That Has Passed, a painting by Johnson, was inspired by one of Charlie Russell’s most successful solo shows of the same name held in the early 1900s. “At this New York exhibit, Charlie conveyed his nostalgic vision of what he witnessed of cowboys, Indians and wildlife in a wild and unfenced land,” says Johnson. The piece is painted like an advertisement for Russell’s show with text on the top and bottom, framing Russell himself in the center of the composition.
“I was inspired by Charlie’s masterpiece, In the Wake of the Buffalo Runners, that was originally painted in the summer of 1911 at Bull Head Lodge, which was Charlie’s summer home located in Lake McDonald, Montana.I have placed Charlie on a bluff overlooking the Missouri River where I thought he would have been inspired to paint this masterpiece near his home.”
Brett James Smith, A Slim Chance, oil, 28 x 30”
Cawdrey’s Ghost Rider, a limited palette of dye on silk, depicts a Native American chief on horseback, and Bathing Buddies, depicting two male bears playing together. “I try to bring pieces to the C.M. Russell show that represent the scope of my work on silk, watercolor and oil. I enjoy all these media and learn so much when I try different techniques,” says Cawdrey. “It keeps me on my toes and learning.”
“We feel fortunate that these prestigious artists bring these pieces for sale at our events knowing the demand for their work,” says Braaten. The Russell Skull Society of Artists Suites will be up March 19 to 21 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day.—
Russell Skull Society of Artists Suites
March 19-21, 2020
Mansfield Convention Center, 2 Park Drive South, Great Falls, MT 59401
(406) 727-8787, www.cmrussell.org
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