WOUNDED (THE WOUNDED BUFFALO) BY CHARLES M. RUSSELL
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Charles M. Russell Wounded (The Wounded Buffalo) 1909 Oil on canvas 19 39/40 inches x 30 1/8 inches |
| Russell wrote of that most prized possession of the plains Indian hunter, his buffalo horse. Here he illustrates his point and also his fluency in painting the subject. The snow-patched landscape, the receding flow of the chase, the frosty bite of the air, and the action--especially the aggressive charge of the cow and the frantic leap of the horse--are all expertly portrayed. Russell's own experience in a buffalo roundup earlier that year exposed him to the wild side of the buffalo, stimulating his artistry, which he expressed in this dramatic painting of a wounded cow defending its calf. (There is also a treat tucked into the foreground--a rabbit hunkered in the grass, a touch Russell often added to delight his alert viewers.) |