Smoke talk 1924

Charles M. Russell made "Smoke Talk" with paint and canvas, but there is no date. The light here is really interesting, a warm sunset over the mountains, contrasted with a cool sky. The whole scene is rendered in loose brushstrokes and naturalistic colors, but it is not really about realism. I think Russell wants us to consider the materiality of the paint. It's as if he's thinking about the process of painting, and the way colors mix and blend on the canvas, rather than just depicting a scene. Look at the way the artist has depicted the horses, with thick, visible brushstrokes that create a sense of texture and movement. The strokes are so gestural, and full of energy that they almost don’t describe anything, but somehow, they do. Russell's contemporary, Frederic Remington, was interested in similar subjects, but his style was much tighter and more controlled, and a little less alive. "Smoke Talk" seems so much more relaxed and intuitive, embracing the ambiguity of painting.