The Romance Makers 1918

This atmospheric vista was painted by Charles M. Russell, capturing a scene from the American West. See how the colours glow? The sky is painted with these delicious creamy strokes, like pastel, fading from golden yellow to soft violet, and then the land is rendered with lush greens and browns. I’m imagining Russell, outside, squinting at the scene, trying to capture all that light. I can almost feel the dry heat and the endlessness of the landscape. Look at the way he depicts the horses and the figures – they're not just shapes, they're almost like brushstrokes in themselves, part of the overall texture of the painting. It’s as though he’s not just depicting a scene but also trying to convey the sheer vastness and spirit of the West. Russell’s work reminds me of other landscape painters who try to capture not just what they see, but how a place *feels*. He reminds us that artists are always in conversation, across time, inspiring each other. I reckon this painting is an embodied expression, with so much ambiguity and uncertainty, it allows for multiple interpretations and meaning over time.