Russell Museum Complex

The C. M. Russell Museum Complex is a museum of art that is situated in Great Falls, Montana. The main purpose of the museum, which is named after Great Falls "cowboy artist" Charles Marion Russell, is to exhibit his works. Along with his work tools and illustrated letters, the museum also showcases other objects that shed light on Russell's daily routine and working style. The museum also features original works of art from the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries that reflect the American Old West as well as its flora, animals, and landscapes. The organisation was referred to as "one of America's premier Western art museums" by the Wall Street Journal in 2009.  Russell's log cabin studio is situated on the grounds of the museum, along with his two-story wood-frame residence. The home and log cabin studio were listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1966 after receiving the designation of National Historic Landmark in 1965 .  The listing boundaries were modified in 1976 to reflect the house's relocation.

The C. M. Russell Auction of Original Western Art, a sale of 19th, 20th, and 21st century works of American West art, has been co-hosted by the museum since 1969. All revenues go to support the institution. Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States have all covered the auction in their media.  The two co-hosts broke up in 2010, and the C. M. Russell Museum launched a new auction called "The Russell."

History  of the museum

establishment of the museum

Emma Josephine Trig was the daughter of Albert Trig, who ran the Brunswick Saloon in Great Falls and was typically only known by her middle and last name.

She started off teaching art in the Great Falls Public Schools before taking the position of children's librarian at the Great Falls Public Library in 1911.

 Trig later had a brief relationship with W. T. Ridgley, a local printer who had published books of Russell's writings as well as an autobiography of a prominent citizen of the area that Russell had illustrated.

 

During the last 30 years of his life, Charles M. Russell worked as a professional artist. He produced anywhere between 4,000 and 4,500 pieces of art.  His wife, Nancy Russell, retained a number of pieces, practically all of Charlie Russell's papers, and a sizable number of models and moulds from which bronze sculptures had been produced. The papers were entrusted to her adoptive son Jack when she passed away in 1940. But the majority of Russell's creations were sold while he was still alive. Russell was permitted to drink there in exchange for paintings by Sid Willis, owner of the Mint Saloon in Great Falls (another of Russell's favorite bars). By the time of Russell's passing, Sid Willis had gathered a collection of 90 oil paintings, watercolors, drawings, models, wax sculptures, and other memorabilia.  Willis offered his collection for sale in 1948. The "Charles Russell Memorial Committee" made vain attempts to increase the price of the purchase in order to retain the "Mint Collection."Amon G. Carter, a producer of Texas newspapers, established the Amon Carter Museum in 1952 and bought the collection for $200,000. The majority of the artwork in Nancy Russell's inheritance was made up of 46 bronzes, which C. R. Smith, the CEO of American Airlines, bought in 1940 , with the remaining pieces going to Charles S. Jones, the executive of an oil business. The Smith bronzes were later acquired by the Amon Carter Museum as well, and as of 2000, it had roughly 60 Russell bronzes. The 46 Russell paintings and 27 bronzes that Dr. Philip G. Cole, a New York City Tyre company executive, had amassed were given to oilman Thomas Gil crease in 1944. Malcolm S. Mackay, a Wall Street investor, acquired an additional 60 works of art, including paintings, watercolors, ink drawings, bronzes, letters, and Christmas cards.and pictures.  Despite the collection being valued at over $3 million, these were lent to the Northern Hotel in Billings in 1942 and then purchased by the Montana Historical Society Museum for $59,000 in 1952.  The family of Cleveland, Ohio, banker and philanthropist George Gund loaned a group of 16 pieces to the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art on a long-term basis.

Museum background

38,000 people visited the museum over its first two years.

Its first significant non-Russell exhibition, a collection of original Norman Rockwell paintings, debuted in 1957.  The museum received about 10,500 visits a year from 1955 to 1958.  The museum expanded its focus as a result of the average yearly drop off of more than one-third. The museum's board of directors decided in 1960 to add more modern works by painters who painted the Old West to the collection. A study that considered extending the museum was funded by the Great Falls chapter of the Junior League, a women's civic organisation, in 1960.  The "Mint Collection" of the Amen Carter Museum was displayed there in 1962.  The "Mint Collection" show, the museum's growing collection, and their promotion greatly increased visitor ship in 1963, reaching over 23,000 persons.  As attendance increased, local businessman and philanthropist John L. McLaughlin offered to donate $100,000 to the museum to create an expansion in exchange for $350,000 in matching contributions from the museum.  With the fundraising effort progressing quickly, Page-Warner Architects, a local business, was hired to design the extension.  The Montana Stock growers Association, the owner of Russell's famous 1887 watercolor "Waiting for a Chinook" (also known as "Last of the 5,000"), consented to allow the museum display the piece that had earned Russell a household name in order to support the campaign.  The additional galleries were opened in 1969 following the completion of the $307,000 extension, which was built by McLaughlin Construction.