C. M. Russell Museum Complex is an art museum located in the city of Great Falls, Montana, in the United States. The museum's primary function is to display the artwork of Great Falls "cowboy artist" Charles Marion Russell, for whom the museum is named. The museum also displays illustrated letters by Russell, work materials used by him, and other items which help visitors understand the life and working habits of Russell. In addition, the museum displays original 19th, 20th, and 21st century art depicting the American Old West and the flora, fauna, and landscapes of the American West. In 2009, the Wall Street Journal called the institution "one of America's premier Western art museums."Yost, Mark. "A Home Where the Buffalo Roam." The Wall Street Journal. February 26, 2009. Located on the museum property is Russell's log cabin studio, as well as his two-story wood-frame home. The house and log cabin studio were designated a National Historic Landmark in 1965, and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1966. In 1976, the listing boundaries were amended to account for moving the house.
Beginning in 1969, the museum co-hosted the C. M. Russell Auction of Original Western Art—an auction of 19th, 20th, and 21st century art of the American West whose proceeds benefit the museum. The auction has received media attention in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States. In 2010, the two co-hosts parted ways, and the C. M. Russell Museum inaugurated a new auction, "The Russell.""Inaugural Success." Western Art Collector. May 2010, p. 142.
History of the museum Founding of the museum Emma Josephine TriggEwen, p. 8 (usually known only by her middle and last name) was the daughter of Albert Trigg, owner of the Brunswick Saloon in Great Falls.Taliaferro, p. 126. She became an art teacher in the Great Falls Public Schools, and in 1911 became the children's librarian at the Great Falls Public Library.Dippie, p. 208. Trigg later was briefly married to W. T. Ridgley, a local printer who published books of Russell's works as well as an autobiography of a local civic leader which Russell illustrated. The Brunswick Saloon was one of Russell's favorite bars, and Albert Trigg allowed Russell to use one of his back rooms as an art studio.Goetzmann and Hunt, p. 108. In 1900, Russell built a two-story clapboard house near the Trigg home, and in 1903 built a log cabin studio on an empty lot between the two houses. Russell became acquainted with "Miss Josephine" (as he referred to her) when Trigg was a teenager, and they remained friends for the rest of Russell's life.Dippie, p. 145. Trigg often accompanied Russell and his wife on vacations, and she provided calligraphy for many of his letters, postcards, and illustrated items (such as place settings at dinner parties).
Charles M. Russell was a professional artist for the last 30 years of his life. He created an estimated 4,000 to 4,500 works of art."Russell Museum Has More Room for the Master." Great Falls Tribune. March 20, 2005. His wife, Nancy Russell, retained some works, including a large number of models and molds from which bronze sculptures had been cast, as well as nearly all of Charlie Russell's papers. When she died in 1940, the papers were given to her adopted son, Jack. But most of Russell's artwork had been sold during his lifetime. Sid Willis, proprietor of the Mint Saloon in Great Falls (another of Russell's favorite bars), allowed Russell to drink there in exchange for paintings, and by the time of Russell's death had amassed a collection of 90 oil paintings, watercolors, drawings, models, wax sculptures, and ephemera. In 1948, Willis put his collection up for sale. A "Charles Russell Memorial Committee" unsuccessfully attempted to raise the purchase price to keep the "Mint Collection" in Montana.Lambert, 2004. Accessed July 30, 2011. Texas newspaper publisher Amon G. Carter purchased the collection for $200,000 in 1952 and established the Amon Carter Museum to house it.Dippie, p. 211. C. R. Smith, chief executive officer of American Airlines, purchased 46 bronzes (which comprised about half of the artwork in Nancy Russell's estate) in 1940,Stewart, p. 125. while oil company executive Charles S. Jones purchased the remainder.Morand et al., p. 15. The Amon Carter Museum eventually purchased the Smith bronzes as well,Taliaferro, p. 211. and as of 2000 owned about 60 Russell bronzes.Gerem, p. 218. Dr. Philip G. Cole, a New York City tire company executive, had collected 46 Russell paintings and 27 bronzes, and these passed into the collection of oilman Thomas Gilcrease in 1944. Wall Street financier Malcolm S. Mackay collected another 60 paintings, watercolors, ink drawings, bronzes, letters, Christmas cards, and photographs. These were loaned to the Northern Hotel in Billings in 1942, and in 1952 were purchased by the Montana Historical Society Museum for $59,000 (although the collection had been priced at over $3 million).Beaty, Jeanne K. "Montana Museum Bares West of Old." New York Times. July 15, 1962. A collection of 16 works, held by the family of Cleveland, Ohio, banker and philanthropist George Gund, was permanently loaned to the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art.Hacinli, Cynthia. "The Old West Preserved on Canvas." New York Times. June 18, 1989. Accessed July 31, 2011."Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art Is Recipient of $15 Million Gund Collection of Western Art." Press release. Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art. August 19, 2004; Berry, S.L. "Eiteljorg Lands Western Artwork." Indianapolis Star. August 12, 2004.
Josephine Trigg, however, had a collection of 153 oil paintings, watercolors, illustrated letters, bookmarks, models and postcards,Stauffer, p. 343. many of which did not depict Old West images.Scriver, p. 14. Trigg's will established a Trigg-C.M. Russell Foundation and donated these items to the city provided that the city built a museum to house the collection within two years. Leonard Regan, an executive with the Montana Power Company, led a fundraising drive which netted $75,000, and in 1953 the Trigg-Russell Memorial Gallery (as the museum was originally known) opened on September 26, 1953."Trigg-Russell Foundation." Great Falls Tribune. September 7, 2003. The building cost $58,175 to construct.Wilmot, Paula. "50th Anniversary." Great Falls Tribune. September 7, 2003.
Museum history In its first two years, the museum had 38,000 visitors. In 1957, its first major non-Russell show, an exhibit of Norman Rockwell original paintings, opened. From 1955 to 1958, the museum saw visitorship of roughly 10,500 a year. The average yearly dropoff of more than a third led the museum to broaden its scope. In 1960, the museum's board of directors agreed to expand the collection to include contemporary artists depicting the Old West.
Also in 1960, the Great Falls chapter of the Junior League (a women's civic organization) paid for a study which analyzed expanding the museum. In 1962, the Amon Carter Museum's "Mint Collection" was exhibited at the museum. Promotion of the museum, its expanding collection, and the "Mint Collection" exhibit dramatically raised visitorship to more than 23,000 people in 1963. With visitorship rising, local construction company owner and philanthropist John L. McLaughlin agreed to give the museum $100,000 to build an expansion if, in turn, the museum raised $350,000 in matching funds. With the fundraising campaign moving ahead swiftly, the local firm of Page-Werner Architects was retained to design the addition. To boost the campaign, the Montana Stockgrowers Association, owner of Russell's famous 1887 watercolor "Waiting for a Chinook" (also known as "Last of the 5,000"), agreed to let the museum exhibit the artwork which had made Russell a national name. Construction on the $307,000 addition began in 1968 (with McLaughlin Construction doing the work), and the new galleries opened in 1969.
The fundraising campaign highlighted the need to diversify the Trigg-Russell Memorial Gallery's sources of income. In 1968, local television personality and civic booster Norma Ashby proposed hosting a worldwide auction of Old West art (both older and contemporary), to be named the C.M. Russell Art Auction, to benefit the gallery.Newhouse, Eric. "Museum, Ad Club Both Had to Scramble." Great Falls Tribune. March 16, 2010. The auction would be held the same week as Russell's March 19 birthday."Russell Auction Aids Associated Shows." Great Falls Tribune. March 11, 2008. The Great Falls Ad Club, a nonprofit organization of local business owners dedicated to promoting the local economy, agreed to co-host the auction with the gallery."Mont. Museum to Hold Art Show in March." Associated Press. September 14, 2009; "Russell Museum, Ad Club Plan Separate Art Auctions." Associated Press. September 23, 2009. The first auction was held in March 1969 at the Rainbow Hotel in Great Falls.
In 1970, another new gallery space at the Trigg-Russell opened. Charles A. Bovey, a wealthy Great Falls area rancher, had long been interested in the state's history. Bovey had collected numerous historic artifacts, preserved large numbers of historic state records, and even purchased and preserved historic buildings across the state. He also purchased and restored most of Virginia City, Montana, the former territorial capital which had become a ghost town.Grant, p. 25-26. In 1969, Bovey and his wife financed the construction of a new gallery beneath the existing museum. The new lower gallery opened in 1970.
In 1972, the Trigg-Russell Gallery was officially renamed the C.M. Russell Museum. Expansion of the collection followed. The museum was first accredited by the American Alliance of Museums in 1974. In 1975, Richard J. Flood donated a collection of more than 1,000 Russell letters, writings, postcards, and other memorabilia (including several pieces of art) worth $600,000 to the museum.Flood was a lifelong friend of Joe De Yong, who was a close personal friend of Russell's. For more information on both men, see: "Guide to the Joe De Yong/Richard J. Flood Collection." Dickinson Research Center. National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum. 2011. Accessed July 31, 2011. In 1979, Montana sculptor Robert Scriver's lifesize bronze statue of Russell was donated to the museum and placed in front of the south main entrance.
By 1980, the museum had purchased several empty plots of land next to the museum. In 1982, with the collection still expanding, the C.M. Russell Museum undertook a $3 million capital fundraising campaign to double the size of the facility from to .Frankel, p. 84. That same year, the city of Great Falls, which owned the Russell home and log cabin studio, turned over management of both structures to the museum. In 1982, Bob Scriver's 53-piece sculptural history of the Piegan Blackfeet received its premiere at the museum."Acclaimed Browning Sculptor Leaves Golden Legacy in Bronze." Great Falls Tribune. December 1, 2010. In 1985, with the fundraising campaign a success, the C.M. Russell museum's new addition opened. By 1989, the museum had seven galleries displaying 7,500 pieces, including artwork, memorabilia, firearms, and photographs. The collection included 80 Russell paintings, 120 Russell sculptures, 50 Russell drawings, and 27 illustrated Russell letters.