MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS, HOUSTON PRESENTS 'CHARLES M RUSSELL: A RETROSPECTIVE OF PAINTINGS AND SCULPTURE'

THE MASTERWORKS OF 'CHARLES M RUSSELL: A RETROSPECTIVE OF PAINTINGS AND SCULPTURE' WILL BE PRESENTED AT THE MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS, HOUSTON, BEGINNING IN JUNE. THE STUNNING EXHIBITION WILL SHOW MORE THAN 60 MAJOR WORKS IN OIL, BRONZE AND MIXED MEDIA BY THE RENOWNED 'COWBOY ARTIST' CHARLES M RUSSELL, AS WELL AS A SELECTION OF PERSONAL OBJECTS THAT PORTRAY THE ARTIST IN HIS OWN WORDS AND IMAGES. VIRTUALLY SELF-TAUGHT, RUSSELL BEGAN TO PAINT EARLY IN HIS CAREER AS A COWBOY, AFTER HE LEFT HIS PRIVILEGED ST LOUIS FAMILY AT SIXTEEN TO WORK AS A NIGHT WRANGLER ON A RANCH IN THE MONTANA TERRITORY. LATER ON, HIS ICONIC IMAGES WOULD HELP DEFINE THE AMERICAN WEST IN THE POPULAR IMAGINATION. WITH FIRST-HAND KNOWLEDGE OF COWBOYS AND OUTLAWS, NATIVE AMERICANS, TRAPPERS AND HUNTERS, AND WESTERN WILDLIFE AND WILDERNESS, RUSSELL PRESENTED AN UNPARALLELED VIEW OF A BYGONE AMERICAN CULTURE, RICH IN AUTHENTIC DETAIL AND INFUSED WITH PERSONAL PASSION. BY THE TIME OF HIS DEATH, IN 1926, RUSSELL HAD SEEN THE WESTERN CULTURE THAT HE LOVED RADICALLY CHANGE. THROUGH HIS ANIMATED ARTWORKS, HOWEVER, HE BECAME A WESTERN LEGEND IN HIS OWN RIGHT AND PROVIDED ENDLESS INSPIRATION TO HOLLYWOOD'S FIRST FILMMAKERS. DESPITE BEING ONE OF THE BEST-KNOWN NAMES IN AMERICAN ART, THIS EXHIBITION IS THE FIRST MAJOR RETROSPECTIVE FEATURING BOTH RUSSELL'S PAINTING AND SCULPTURAL WORKS. THE MASTERWORKS OF CHARLES M RUSSELL WILL BE ON VIEW AT THE MFAH UNTIL 29.AUGUST, HOUSTON IS THE FINAL VENUE FOR THE AMERICAN TOUR.