Russell, Charles Marion

Russell, Charles Marion, 1864–1926, American painter, b. Oak Hill, Mo. He was one of the two greatest and most popular painters of the American West (the other was Frederic Remington). A stalwart individualist, Russell first earned his living as a trapper and cowboy, later translating his passion for adventure and American wildlife onto canvas for his own amusement. Russell's works are filled with the movement of cowboys, Native Americans (with whom he lived for a time), and galloping horses. His mural Lewis and Clark Meeting the Flathead Indians (1912) is in the Montana State Capitol, Helena. A museum was built to honor Russell's work in Great Falls, Mont.

Bibliography

See biography by J. Taliaferro (1996).