Charles M. Russell: The Women In His Life And Art – 5/18-9/30 – Great Falls, Montana

The American West is traditionally thought of as a man’s world, a view that has been maintained and glorified by generations of novelists and artists who have staked their careers on interpreting and visualizing the west. While Charles M. Russell is recognized as one of the premier interpreters of that masculine domain, it is one that has overshadowed the artist’s portrayals of women in the west, a subject which spans the entirety of his career. Russell depicted a surprisingly large number of women fulfilling an expansive range of western roles.

Some of these roles–white women as pioneer wives, captives of hostile Indians, or prostitutes; Indian women as exotic sex objects and domestic drudges–conform to the pervasive stereotypes and artistic trends of his time. However, Russell’s experience and observation in the late nineteenth-century west encouraged more nuanced and action-oriented depictions of women than did many of his contemporaries, and he often incorporated female subjects in his ongoing commentary on progress and change in the West and its effects on western people.

Full Exhibit Information: https://cmrussell.org/upcoming-exhibitions