Copyright: Public domain
Charles M. Russell made this watercolour, “An Old Story”, sometime around 1910, and it feels like a sketch of a memory. The paint is applied in these really free, almost splashy strokes. Look at the way the horses are rendered – more suggested than defined, all movement and energy. The guy falling out of the carriage, you almost feel the tumble! It's like Russell's not just painting a scene, he's capturing a feeling, a moment of chaos. I keep coming back to the colour palette, how it shifts from warm yellows and oranges to these cool blues and purples in the background. It creates depth, sure, but it also sets a mood, a kind of dreamy nostalgia, maybe? There’s a raw, unfinished quality that reminds me a bit of some of Homer’s watercolours, that same sense of immediacy. Ultimately, it’s a piece that invites you to fill in the blanks, to bring your own stories to the table.
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