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Title: Charles M. Russell: The Life and Legend of America's Cowboy Artist
ISBN: 0316831905
Author:
John Taliaferro
Publicate Date: 1996-05-01
Publish: 1996-05-01
List Price: $27.95
Average Customer Rating: 5.0
Format: Hardcover
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Amazon Lowest New Price: $109.99
Amazon Lowest Used Price: $1.99
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1: WELL WRITTEN AND INFORMATIVE BIOGRAPHY OF AN AMERICAN ORIGINAL
This is a very well written biography of an American Original, Charles M. Russell, cowboy, artist, story teller and someone you would probably like to hang around with for a bit. I have always been rather fond of Western Art, in general, and Russell's work in particular. I have, from time to time read articles on the life of this truly individual man but have before now, been unable to read a complete work on his life that I could give credit to for being valid. John Taliaferro has treated the artist rather fairly as well as the artist's wife Nancy, who I have always suspected has not been appreciated for just what she did for her husband. Truth be told, I doubt if Charles M. Russell would have ever been the artist he was without her. It is good that the author has given credit were credit is due. I have also had some problems with the separation of truth from myth. The author has done a very nice job of this with this work.
This book is a bit more than just the story of the life on one man though. If you pay attention, you can find a pretty good history of the evolution of the Western Artist here, and the role he played in this particular genre of art. I say art, because I believe that is just what it is. I realize that there has been, is, and probably always will be the artist/illustrated argument being pitched back and forth with each new generation of artists and art teachers. Personally, I am one of those people who looks himself in the mirror and says "if I call it art, then by God, it is art." This of course my personal standard and I am sure there are many who would disagree. And that is the way it should be. The purpose of this biography was not to establish the answer to this question one way or another. Let the argument rage on...it just makes things more interesting.
The author of this work does have a very readable style, has well foot noted his sources, and when he simply does not know something, says as such. When he speculates, he specifically states that he is doing so. Now I will warn the reader that the author, Mr. Taliaferro, does love his Thesaurus, aggressively uses it, and does display a quirky sort of vocabulary. I personally like this, as I love words, but some readers may find it just a bit distracting. This is a very minor problem though, if even a problem it is.
I feel it is important to understand our art if we are to understand ourselves as a society and also feel that we need to know and understand those who are able to create this art. Works such as this help greatly with this understanding and by reading them, simply makes life a bit more enjoyable. I know that I will certainly look with new eyes now, each time I view a Russell painting or sculpture after reading this work. A well written biography, informative, fun and a pleasure to read!
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2: A factual, fair and fascinating account
John Taliaferro does a great job of separating fact from legend in this well-written, engaging account of Charlie Russell's life. Russell wasn't above embellishing his western credentials (he never, in fact, lived with the Indians, as he once claimed), but Taliaferro shows us that he did have genuine cowboy credentials, cutting his chops over years of nighthawking on the Montana range.
This biography is fair to Russell's wife, Nancy, who was often vilified by Russell's friends for her money-hungry, status-conscious ways. Nancy was a young, uneducated woman who came from dirt-poor circumstances. She took on the sole responsibility for managing her husband's art career. If Nancy made a few enemies over the years, she deserves credit for taking Charlie from being a cowpoke selling his sketches for $25 to a world-renowned artist.
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3: "THE" COWBOY ARTIST
Art critics spend much time arguing about the value of western art and as to whether it can really be classified as art at all. Some of the more snobby critics attempt to discredit western painters by referring to them as "illustrators" as if that changes anything. They argue that if an artist is commissioned by other than the loftiest of patrons or if their work is used primarily to illuminate a story then their art can only be classified as illustration and not as fine art. As an art student I argued this one ad nauseam with my art professors. And invariably the work of Charles Marion Russell, my favorite ARTIST - period - would arise. But that's enough about small-minded art professors and their unwillingness to accept art wherever they find it. The work of Charles Marion Russell (hereafter CM Russell) is accepted by thousands as arguably the best of the western genre. It remains the standard against which all other western pieces are judged. Russell also was an accomplished western wit who drew and kept the fast friendship of the king of western wit, Will Rogers. In his book Charles M. Russell: The Life and Legend of America's Cowboy Artist, John Taliaferro not only discusses the art achievements of Russell but also provides a biography that paints the life of the artist and the west Russell knew so well in the most vivid colors possible. And indeed CM Russell was the most colorful of characters. Read this book and I'll bet you will at least become the owner of a CM Russell print and at most plan a pilgrimage to Great Falls to visit CM Russell's museum, studio and home.
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4: "No one comes close"!
As a young boy he heard the words of Horace Greely, and indeed went west to seek fame, fortune, and adventure. After two years with Jake Hoover in the Judith, his dreams of wranglin', and ropin' came true at the O H ranch. Over time the home of the "Big Sky Country" became his perminant domain, and his mother Miss Montana, she blessed her son with a gift that would speek for many of his kind that ventured before him. He illustrated with brush, and canvas. He wrote in scripture, and sculptured in bronze. With his gift, C M Russell was able to protray what it was like to live in a time when spurs, the six-gun, and the feel of leather was a cowhands only cherrished parcel. He became the "Cowboys Cowboy", and the voice of the "Red-Man". Montana's dearest son had done what she wanted him to do. Russell for those who knew him was Loving, Kind, and Loyal. He never forgot his roots, no matter where he traveled. In the end Montana was more than proud of him. For she had raised him as Montanan. Over the years he became a Montanan. And at the end of the trail, he was buried as a Montanan.
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