As masterpieces by Charles M. Russell and Frederic Remington were completed in the early 20th century, the general public was largely oblivious. For John and June Q. Public, first encounters with these great artists were not through their important easel paintings, but rather their illustrations in magazines, books and other publications. Many were in black and white.
Charles M. Russell (1864-1926), Before the White Man Came, 1897, oil en grisaille on board. The Peterson Family Collection.
Those magnificent illustrations are the subject of an ongoing exhibition at the Sid Richardson Museum in Fort Worth, Texas. Remington and Russell in Black and White will feature illustrated works from each artist alongside the publication the artworks originally appeared in. The pieces are from the museum’s permanent collection as well as from the nearby Amon Carter Museum of American Art and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. The pieces include a mixture of oils, watercolors and drawings in pen and ink. The reproductions in the publications are entirely different mediums in many cases, including engravings done by another artist, which was common during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Frederic Remington (1861-1909), Jumping on to a Horse, ca. 1896, ink wash drawing on paper. Private Collection.
“Obviously these artists are known for their works in color and their bronzes, but these drawings on paper and panel are still some of their iconic works—they are beautiful,” says Scott Winterrowd, director at the Sid Richardson Museum. “One of the most iconic examples in the exhibition is actually our piece, which is [Remington’s] The Cow Puncher that was the cover of a 1901 Collier’s that was accompanied by Owen Wister’s poem.”
The poem, in part, reads: “He rides the earth with hoofs of might / His is the song the eagle sings / Strong as the eagle’s, his delight / For like his rope, his heart hath wings.”
Frederic Remington (1861-1909), The Cow Puncher, 1901, oil on canvas. Sid Richardson Museum.
Winterrowd says Remington and Russell, long known as the standard bearers for the entire genre of Western art, have staying power within the art world for a variety of reasons. “They have endured long after they passed because they were really the first to put down on paper and canvas their unique perspectives of the West. And then those images were passed down to so many different other artists who created their own variations,” the museum director says. “What is also central to them and their longevity is the quality of the work they made. They have endured because they were that good.”
Charles M. Russell (1864-1926), “Over the Next Ridge, Therefore, We Slipped and Slid, Thanking the God of Luck for Each Ten Feet Gained,” 1905, watercolor. Private Collection.
The exhibition will hang through April, and then in May the museum will debut a worthy follow-up exhibition, The Cinematic West: The Art That Made the Movies. —
Remington and Russell in Black and White
Through April 2025
Sid Richardson Museum
309 Main Street, Fort Worth, TX 76102, (817) 332-6554
www.sidrichardsonmuseum.org
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