CM Russell Western Print

CHARLES M. RUSSELL WESTERN PRINT - MOUNTED WARRIORS OVERLOOKING A RIVER VALLEY, RUSTIC WOOD FRAME A second framed reproduction after the Montana cowboy artist Charles M. Russell, and a direct companion to the Russell war party print offered separately in this sale. The scene shows a small band of mounted warriors halted on a rocky bluff at the edge of a canyon, one man dismounted and standing on the rimrock ahead of the others looking out, a lance and a painted hide shield among the group, and below them a broad river bottom running back toward pale bluffs and a range of mountains under a yellow sunrise sky. The palette is Russell at his most atmospheric, deep plum and umber shadow in the foreground against a washed lemon and rose distance. The signature CM Russell with the artist's buffalo skull device is visible in the lower left corner of the image. The piece is framed in a wide rustic wood molding with a heavy pecky, wormed, and hand-distressed surface in a warm walnut stain, stepping down to a natural linen liner around the image. It hangs well on its own and even better as a pair with the companion Russell print, and it also pairs naturally with the three Charles M. Russell books and the western art titles elsewhere in this sale. Bidders should note this is a reproduction print, not an original painting, and that the linen liner carries visible staining and the frame is heavily distressed. Sold as one framed print. Description Framed reproduction print after a Charles M. Russell painting, western subject, a mounted party of warriors on a canyon rim above a river valley with distant mountains, one figure standing on the rocks ahead of the group. Signature reads CM Russell in the lower left of the image with the artist's buffalo skull device directly beneath it, reproduced as part of the printed image. The signature was read from an enlarged and sharpened crop of the photograph rather than in hand. No printed title, edition number, publisher line, or date is visible in these photographs, and no label, stamp, or certificate is shown, so no specific title, publisher, printing date, or edition is claimed. Image is surrounded by a narrow natural linen fabric liner set inside the wood frame. Frame is a wide flat-faced wood molding roughly three inches across, with a deeply textured pecky and worm-tracked grain, chamfered inner and outer edges, mitered corners, and a warm medium walnut finish, giving a rustic ranch or lodge look. Overall outside frame dimensions measure approximately 22 to 23 inches wide by roughly 18 to 19 inches tall per the tape-measure photographs, with the visible image area running roughly 13 to 14 inches wide. In both measuring photographs the tape hook is laid on the face of the frame or on the carpet rather than hooked over a clean edge, and the piece is lying flat on carpet at an angle to the camera, so all figures are close estimates rather than measurements. Bidders should verify all dimensions from the photographs. The back of the piece was not photographed, so hanging hardware, backing, labels, and any inscriptions on the verso are unknown. Buyers should assume hardware may need to be added and should ask before bidding if the back matters to them. Whether the image is glazed under glass or acrylic is not clear from these photographs, so buyers should assume the printed surface may be unprotected. Attribution note Charles Marion Russell, 1864 to 1926, came to Montana as a teenager, worked as a wrangler and night herder on the open range, and became the defining painter of the northern plains, the cattle frontier, and Plains Indian life, with a body of oils and watercolors that has been reproduced in prints, calendars, and books continuously for more than a century. His work is the subject of the three Russell reference books offered separately in this sale, and the C.M. Russell Museum in Great Falls, Montana, along with the Charles M. Russell Center at the University of Oklahoma, remain the principal institutional homes for study of his art. Nothing in these photographs identifies the original painting reproduced here, the printer, or the date of printing, and there is no basis for calling this a limited edition or an original work. Attribution of the artist rests on the reproduced signature and skull device visible in the image and is offered as the consignor's photo-based opinion, not guaranteed. Bid on the item as pictured. Condition Used vintage framed wall art in good decorative condition, sold as-is. The natural linen liner shows brown staining, water tide marks, and soiling, heaviest along the left side and the upper left and lower left corners, plainly visible in the close-up photographs. Light overall toning and dust are present on the liner throughout. The printed image itself appears intact with no tear, crease, or puncture visible, but it looks somewhat darkened in the foreground and may be toned or lightly faded overall. The frame is heavily distressed