Guide to Collecting Western Art InGreatFalls
MONTANAvarious events help fund the museum and its
educational opportunities to both Russell and
Western art.
“We’re so thrilled during each and every
year’s event that Charlie and his contemporaries
can bring out this great collection of consigners
and collectors to support the museum. We’re
in such a fortunate position that the event can
fund all of our educational programming and
exhibitions,” says Duane Braaten, director of art
and philanthropy at the C.M. Russell Museum.
“And we have a lot of fun, too.”
One of the key developments at this year’s
event will be the reopening of the Russell home
and log cabin studio, both of which have been
closed following a major conservation and
reinterpretation. Both buildings are on the
museum property, in a residential area of Great
Falls. “Not only did they conserve each log in
the studio, but they redid the roof, structurally
improved the entire cabin and house, and
they also even peeled back years of wallpaper
to reveal the original look of the cabin when
Russell was working in it,” Braaten says. “The
way they’ve done it, these buildings will
continue to inspire Western fans for another
hundred years.”
The Russell events largely kick off on March
21 with the Art Preview Party at the museum
from 5 to 7 p.m. The ticketed event will
allow guests to see the auction artwork one
final time before it is moved to the Mansfield
Convention Center, where the bulk of The
Russell takes place. Also opening March 21
at the convention center are the curated artist
booths in the Russell Skull Society of Artists
Suites, which runs through March 23, from 10
a.m. to 4 p.m.
On March 22, the Art in Action quick draw
event will take place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
at the Meadow Lark Country Club, where
invited artists will create a new work of art
in front of an audience. The piece will then
be auctioned off, with 100 percent of the
proceeds benefitting the museum. Later that
night, starting at 6 p.m., the First Strike auction
will take place back at the convention center.
This auction will focus entirely on works by
contemporary Western artists.
On Saturday, March 23, at 9 a.m., an
educational symposium will take place.
This year’s symposium will feature author
Larry Len Peterson as he discusses his new
biography Blackfeet John L. “Cutapuis” Clarke
Charles M. Russell (1864-1926), Approach of White Men, 1897, oil on canvas, 24⁄ x 34⁄"
Estimate: $1.25/1.75 millionCharles M. Russell (1864-1926), The Scout, 1895, watercolor on paper, 13½ x 18½"
Estimate: $225/325,000