Charles Marion Russell

Charles Marion Russell (1864–1926), often called "C.M. Russell" or "the Cowboy Artist," was a prolific American artist renowned for his depictions of the Old West, including cowboys, Native Americans, landscapes, and wildlife. While he is best known for his paintings and illustrations, Russell also created numerous sculptures in wax, clay, and plaster, many of which were posthumously cast in bronze using the lost-wax process. These bronzes capture the dynamic spirit of Western life and have become highly collectible, with some fetching auction prices in the hundreds of thousands of dollars (e.g., his 1911 Bronc Twister bronze sold for $805,000 in 2008).