The Attack 1900

Charles M. Russell, who was a storyteller and artist, painted "The Attack," capturing a moment rife with tension and drama on the American frontier. The painting throws us into the heat of conflict between white settlers and Native Americans, a theme common in Western art, yet often steeped in complex histories of dispossession and violence. Russell grew up in a time of westward expansion, a period marked by the romanticizing of the cowboy figure and the erasure of Indigenous narratives. What we see is a romanticization of the 'Wild West' that reflects the dominant culture of the time, a view largely devoid of Native American perspectives. Through dynamic composition and vivid brushwork, Russell invites us to consider the human cost of westward expansion, prompting reflection on whose stories are told and whose are forgotten.