Thrown 1913

Curator: Here we have "Thrown," a watercolor and pencil drawing from 1913 by Charles M. Russell, currently held at the Minneapolis Institute of Art. Editor: Whoa, immediate sense of controlled chaos. The muted palette kind of amplifies the feeling of someone flying through the air, doesn't it? Makes me think of outtakes from old Western movies! Curator: Indeed. It captures a specific kind of action, right? This piece fits within a larger context of genre paintings depicting scenes from daily life in the American West. Notice how the pencil underdrawing reveals the artistic process, underscoring the labor inherent in depicting a seemingly spontaneous moment. Editor: Absolutely. There's a lovely tension between the fleeting subject matter – a cowboy being dramatically unseated – and the visible, deliberate craftsmanship in each line and wash. It is a performance of skill in more ways than one, which can tell us something about cultural valorization, right? Like, what skills are given status? Curator: Precisely. The medium is not divorced from its subject here; the use of watercolor lends itself to the rugged landscapes, reflecting on water accessibility, settlement, and, yes, how cultural values elevate some forms of labor over others, even celebrating the accidents. The image also embodies specific visual traditions, it is academic-art by intention. Editor: You know, thinking about that hat suspended in mid-air, like a thought bubble, that touch lends the piece such unexpected humor. And really makes you consider the relationship between man, animal, and landscape here. It feels so raw, unmediated and like an allegory for control, loss, and grit. Curator: Well put! Considering the materials – pencil and watercolor on paper – provides a framework for the cultural moment when such work chronicled the taming of the West. The distribution of drawings like these fostered a romantic, and often misleading, vision. Editor: Right. So much story-telling embedded in the way that landscape and human activity meet on the paper! Okay, I’m now pondering Russell as a visual mythmaker! Curator: He certainly crafted enduring images. It offers insight into not only art production of the time, but production of ideas of heroism too. Editor: Definitely food for thought, thanks for sharing, its narrative continues.