In March 2020, amid a flurry of cancellations, postponements and deferments to virtual-only events, one of the earliest shows disrupted by the Covid pandemic was The Russellin Great Falls, Montana. Organizers, conscious of visitor safety and the future of the event, eventually moved the annual C.M. Russell Museum-hosted show to August, which is where it was held for three years. The move was always intended to be temporary.
Charles M. Russell (1864-1926), The War Party, ca. 1896, oil, 22⅛ x 36” Estimate: $2.25/3.25 millionStarting March 14, The Russell will return to Western Art Week, a city-wide party to celebrate Charles M. Russell’s birthday on March 19.
“We are thrilled to be coming back to Western Art Weekin March,” says Duane Braaten, director of art and philanthropy at the C.M. Russell Museum. “We’re also thrilled to be coming back to the Heritage Inn, where we haven’t been in some time. This event and this week always show the true spirit of collaboration that happens every March in Great Falls. All of these great art events work together to celebrate Russell and the city he loved so much. We make it as easy as possible to see everything that the week has to offer.”
Auctioneer Troy Black takes bids at The Russell.
Events kick off March 14 with the Art Preview Party at the museum, followed on March 15 by the Art in Action quickdraw event that ends with a live auction at the Meadow Lark Country Club on the banks of the Missouri River in Great Falls. Also on March 15 is the First Strike Friday Night sale, which will focus on new works from top Western artists. That event will take place at the Heritage Inn.
“First Strike Friday Night is always a special part of our annual show. This year we will have 80 lots of new works by contemporary artists,” says Braaten. “These are going to be special pieces.”
Jeremy Winborg, Give Me a Home Where the Buffalo Roam, oil, 36 x 36” Estimate: $22/26,000
On March 16, events include the educational symposium at the Montana ExpoPark and then that evening will feature the main live auction at the Heritage Inn. The Russell always boasts a terrific selection of Charlie Russell work and this year is no exception.
The top lot of the sale is Russell’s oil from around 1896, a 36-inch-wide painting titled The War Party. The work, estimated at $2.25 million to $3.25 million, was the recent subject of a thorough analysis by Tom Petrie, a Russell collector and member of the museum’s board of directors. Petrie adds additional context to the painting by carefully examining events in Russell’s life around the time of the work’s creation and prior to it. The full examination of The War Party appeared in the February 2024 issue of Western Art Collector.
Jennifer Johnson works on a painting during the Art in Action event.
Other Russell pieces include a collection of five works (est. $400/500,000) related to the book Indian Why Stories, a 1914 illustrated letter showing a Native American figure with woodland creatures, several carved wooden gnomes (est. $8/10,000), the bronze Smoking with the Spirit of the Buffalo (est. $100/150,000), the pen and ink work In the Land of the Navajos (est. $25/35,000) and an illustrated letter to artist Will James (est. $30/40,000).
Andy Thomas, Russell’s Last Ride, oil, 26 x 38” Estimate: $49/59,000
Colt Idol, Thunderstruck, oil, 30 x 54” Estimate: $8/11,000
Other historic Western works include paintings and drawings by Joseph Henry Sharp, Bert Geer Phillips, Joe De Yong, Gerard Curtis Delano, Philip R. Goodwin, John Fery and many others.
Contemporary artists represented in the sale are many of The Russell’s star painters and sculptors, including many who are returning to the Great Falls event. They are Colt Idol, Jennifer Johnson, Jeremy Winborg, Troy Collins, Chad Poppleton, Edward Aldrich, Jim Carson and Andy Thomas, who will be showing a painting depicting Russell’s funeral in 1926.
Jennifer Johnson, Golden Era in the Park, oil, 40 x 30” Estimate: $11/15,000
“Charles Russell died in October of 1926. Tributes came from all over the country. They came from celebrities and humble working people who knew him. Cowboys, too, of course,” writes Thomas about his painting. “In Great Falls, schools, banks and the post office were closed so everyone could gather and see Charlie off for his last journey. He rode to the cemetery in a horse-drawn hearse with his horse Dexter led behind. On Dexter were Russell’s saddle and gear. It was a day to remember America’s Cowboy Artist.” —
Naomi Brown, Tucson Summer Storm, oil, 30 x 24” Estimate: $5/7,500
The Russell
March 14-16, 2024
Art in Action, March 15, 10 a.m.- 1 p.m., Meadow Lark Country Club, 300 Country Club Boulevard, Great Falls, MT 59404
First Strike Friday Night, March 15, 5 p.m., Heritage Inn, 1700 Fox Farm Road, Great Falls, MT 59404
Educational Symposium, March 16, 9 a.m., Montana ExpoPark, 400 Third Street NW, Great Falls, MT 59404
The Russell Live Auction, March 16, 4 p.m., Heritage Inn
(406) 727-8787, cmrussell.org
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