The Stranglers 1920

Charles M. Russell rendered this scene, "The Stranglers," in oil paint, and boy can you feel the dust rising from the ground! I imagine Russell out there in the field, squinting into the sun, trying to get the exact shade of the dry grass just right. The painting comes into being through intuition, one stroke, one dab of color, building up the scene. The paint isn’t too thick, just enough to give texture to the rocks and the fur of those battling bears, and those men on horses. There’s a certain kind of tension in those ropes, right? I'm thinking about the emotional resonance of painting, how a simple gesture can communicate so much. Artists like Russell are having this ongoing conversation across time, inspiring one another’s creativity, and embracing the ambiguity of it all.