Charles M. Russell (1864–1926) — Friend Con Letter (1910)

Lot 285

About Seller

11944 North Tracey Road
Hayden, ID 83835
United States

Coeur d’Alene Art Auction specializes in the finest classical Western and American Art representing past masters and outstanding contemporary artists. The auction principals have over 100 years of combined experience in selling fine art and have netted their clients over $325 million in the last fif...Read more

Bid Increments

Price	Bid Increment
$0	$100
$2,000	$250
$5,000	$500
$10,000	$1,000
$20,000	$2,500
$50,000	$5,000
$100,000	$10,000
$200,000	$25,000
$500,000	$50,000
$1,000,000	$100,000

About Auction

Fine Western & American Art by Coeur d'Alene Art Auction

Live

Fine Western & American Art

By Coeur d'Alene Art Auction

Jul 31, 2021

Set Reminder 2021-07-31 14:00:00 2021-07-31 14:00:00 America/New_York Bidsquare Bidsquare : Fine Western & American Art https://www.bidsquare.com/auctions/coeur-dalene/fine-western-american-art-7138 The 2021 Coeur d’Alene Art Auction to be held July 31 in Reno, Nevada, will feature 394 selections of unparalleled quality in Western paintings and sculpture from historical and contemporary artists such as Charles M. Russell, Oscar Berninghaus, Walter Ufer, Frank Tenney Johnson, and more. Coeur d'Alene Art Auction info@cdaartauction.com

View Full Catalog (394)

Lot Description

Charles M. Russell (1864–1926)
Friend Con Letter (1910)
watercolor and ink on paper
8 × 9.75 inches
signed lower right

VERSO
Label, Amon Carter Museum, Fort Worth, Texas

Friend Con Letter is recorded in the C. M. Russell Catalogue Raisonné as reference number CR.ILU.282.

According to Brian W. Dippie, “Part ownership of the Lazy K Y Ranch was a last hold on the past for Russell. But 1910, with its terrible forest fires, was a drought year on the range as well. No rain fell between April and October, the grass was in miserable condition, and the waterholes had all been filed on by homesteaders. Though the Lazy K Y’s holdings had grown to nearly three hundred head of cattle and sixty horses, 1910 was the year to call it quits. Charlie and Nancy, who between them had filed on 360 acres, arranged on July 6 to rent their land to Pete Wagner for a year at fifty cents an acre. The Prices were considering an apple orchard in Washington, while Charlie was looking into a hay ranch nearer Great Falls.

“After making the decision to sell out, Charlie visited the Lazy K Y in September with Phil Goodwin, his guest over the summer. Henry P. Webster, whose father that year acquired a ranch just across the border in Canada, was also on hand for the farewell visit, and a number of photographs were taken to commemorate the event. Goodwin even got to relive the Wild West when he mounted a spirited bay named Dave, Russell’s favorite saddle horse on the ranch. It bolted, and Goodwin had a scary gallop before it was brought under control. Nevertheless, a few days later he and Charlie departed on Dave and Sandy, a pretty yellow horse intended for Nancy, to make the five-day ride to Great Falls.”

PROVENANCE
Pete and Janet Taggares, Washington

LITERATURE
Brian W. Dippie, Charles M. Russell, Word Painter: Letters 1887-1926, Amon Carter Museum, 1993, p. 139, illustrated
Nancy C. Russell, Good Medicine: the Illustrated Letters of Charles M. Russell, Doubleday, 1930, p. 104, illustrated

View more information

Condition

As viewed through glass. Creases in corresponding sections where letter was folded to fit into envelope, but paper is in good condition overall.