Lot 413

C.M. Russell Free Trappers Framed Lithograph

Estimate: $250 - $500

Bid Increments

Price Bid Increment
$0 $5
$50 $10
$100 $25
$500 $50
$1,000 $100
$2,000 $250
$5,000 $500
$10,000 $1,000
$25,000 $2,500
$100,000 $5,000
This lot offers a beautifully framed lithograph of C.M. (Charlie) Russell's "Free Trappers". The piece is signed “CM Russell 1911” with his trademark bison skull in the lower left corner. A breed that came and went long before Charlie arrived in Montana, the free trapper was a true symbol of the Montana west. He knew the high country in the landscape as well as anyone and his toughness and skill kept him alive in situations that would have been the end of almost anyone else. Charlie was best friends with many of his subjects, one of which was Jake Hoover, his first teacher in the ways of the wild. Charles Russell was the "other" artist (besides Frederic Remington) who chronicled life in the Wild West. Unlike Remington, Russell settled permanently in the west (Montana) and wholeheartedly embraced everything life there had to offer. He was a "real" cowboy; he lived with a mountain man and was an adopted brother of the Blackfoot tribe. His oils, watercolors, and bronzes reflect an intimate knowledge of his subjects. This lithograph is professionally matted and framed with a mauve matting that accents the colors Russell used in the setting sun on the snow. The print measures 29 1/2" X 20 1/2" and the frame measures 37 3/4” X 29 1/2". This piece is in very good condition.