2012 Coeur d’Alene Art Auction / Lot 193231 / 291  •  View Catalog  •   • 

193
Charles M. Russell (1864 – 1926)
The Hunting Party (circa 1892-4)
watercolor on paper
21 × 33.25 inches
signed lower left

The Hunting Party is recorded in the C.M. Russell Catalogue Raisonné as reference number CR.RNR.9.

In the 1981 exhibition catalog Frederic renner wrote, “At this stage in his career the artist was still experimenting with a limited palette and had not achieved the confident draftsmanship he was to develop later. During this period, 1892 to 1894, he painted several pairs of pictures, both in oils and watercolor, which were meant to hang together. Usually these pairs employed men as the subject of one painting and was complemented with Indian women as the focal point of the other.”

According to rick stewart, “When looking at watercolors, many people think of them as spontaneous works because the colors, strokes, and washes look like they were applied rapidly with comparative ease. In truth, watercolor is a very difficult medium to master. As one writer observed, the process of creating a successful watercolor is about as spontaneous as thinking through a chess match. There are hundreds of decisions to be made, and any one of them can adversely affect the work’s successful outcome.

“By the end of the 1890s, living and working in north-central Montana since the age of sixteen, Russell reached a pinnacle of achievement in the watercolor medium that few American artists of his time—many of them with years of formal training— ever managed to attain. Moreover, Russell did this five or six years before his first trip to New York City, where he was to absorb all that professionally trained artists could teach him. But while his exposure to the New York art world ensured his steady rise to fame, his productivity in the watercolor medium suffered as he subsequently concentrated more heavily on oil painting and sculpture.”

LITERATURE:
Exhibition catalog, Charles M. Russell, The Frederic G. Renner Collection (Phoenix, arizona: Phoenix art Museum, 1981),
page 47, illustrated

PROVENANCE:
The Estate of Frederic G. & Ginger K. Renner, Paradise Valley, Arizona

EXHIBITIONS:
Charles M. Russell, The Frederic G. Renner Collection, Phoenix Art Museum, Phoenix, Arizona, April 11 - June 7, 1981; C.M. Russell Museum, Great Falls, Montana, June 15 - September 10, 1981; The Denver Art Museum, Denver, Colorado, October 3 - December 6, 1981

193

Charles M. Russell

1864 – 1926

The Hunting Party (circa 1892-4)
watercolor on paper
21 × 33.25 inches
signed lower left
Sold at Auction: $204,750
Condition ReportBurn marks from tape upper left and right corners, slight foxing and discoloration in sky, slight fading throughout.

Important Notice: Statements of condition are provided as a service to potential bidders; such statements are educated opinions and should not be regarded as facts. The Coeur d’Alene Art Auction has no responsibility for any errors or omissions.