작품 상세

bronze, modeled 1901, cast c. 1926-1940 Starting in 1901, Russell created a series of painted plasters depicting a seated figure of a Piegan warrior as gifts for friends. One of the plasters is now in the collection of the C.M. Russell Museum in Great Falls; another is owned by the Buffalo Bill Historical Center in Cody, Wyoming. Rick Stewart, in his definitive Charles M. Russell Sculptor (Amon Carter Museum, 1994, pp. 336-340), suggests that the seated Piegan may relate to the notorious scout and horse thief White Quiver, depicted in Russell's 1901 oil painting The Horse Thieves, as well as in the 1901 watercolor Indian Signaling offered in this auction as lot 127. According to Stewart, the decision to cast the plaster model in bronze came near the end of the artist's life, probably to produce some long-term income for Nancy Russell. Roman Bronze Works in New York City likely cast the first bronze in 1926, while Russell was still living. Nancy Russell subsequently had a few copies of the model cast at the California Art Bronze Foundry in Los Angeles, following her move to Pasadena. In a letter to the current owner of Watcher of the Plains, dated April 30, 2012, Stewart wrote: "I have had the opportunity to closely examine the bronze sculpture by Charles M. Russell titled Watcher of the Plains that you were kind enough to send to me here in Texas. . . . The surface details of your cast . . . are relatively sharp and correspond quite closely to those on the Nancy Russell estate example at the ACMAA [Amon Carter Museum of American Art]. The Indian's countenance is well defined; his wind-blown hair is carefully detailed, and his musculature sharply articulated. The incised decorative design on the pouch or bag between his legs is very clear. About the only difference I see is the higher angle of the feather extending from the Indian's wolf-skin hat on your example. The other CABF [California Art Bronze Foundry] examples I've seen have the feather a bit lower. (Interestingly, the other Roman Bronze Works examples had not feather at all-just a nub where it should have been!) "In conclusion, I would say that the cast of Watcher of the Plains that you have is one of the six to eight or so casts produced in Los Angeles between 1926 and 1940­-that is during the lifetime of Nancy Russell, who was the one who always oversaw the production of her husband's bronzes." Stewart's letter is available for examination and will be furnished to the buyer of this lot.