VERSO
Label, C. M. Russell Museum, Great Falls, Montana

Russell authority Peter H. Hassrick wrote, “For the nineteenth-century artist, nature was charged with psychological associations. Values and meanings were directly connected to geological and climatological forces, as well as to animals. Thus the buffalo bull represented dominance and nobility, and the river persistence and longevity. Russell built on these standard associations by adding Indian lore to the equation. When he painted his watercolor Night about 1895, he was heaping onto nature a heady burden of human moral analogues. The bison, once ruler of the plains, has fallen, and its bones sink into the sands of time as ashes or ruins of some crumbled past civilization. Perched on the bison’s horn and representing death, the owl fixes its piercing gaze on the stealthy wolf arrived to search the wreckage for vestiges of plunder. As other nineteenth-century animal painters such as Peter Moran were wont to do, Russell invested the wolf and owl with human traits to act out human roles – all part of the romantic vision of the day.”

PROVENANCE
Myhre Family Collection, Montana
Present owner, by descent

EXHIBITED
C. M. Russell Museum, Great Falls, Montana, 1999

LITERATURE
Peter H. Hassrick, Charles M. Russell, Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1989, pp. 58-59, illustrated

Additional Resources

• Charles M. Russell’s Past Results
• View Condition Report

Condition ReportAs viewed through glass. Paper appears to be in good condition. Colors are bright.

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.