Charles M. Russell, Sculptor

Missouri-born Russell (1864-1926), who settled on the Montana plains, is justly famous as a painter of the American West, yet his boldly expressive sculpture is less well known. This lavishly illustrated study reveals a master of depicting dramatic action, whether the subject is a bronco rider, an Indian buffalo hunt or two rams fighting on the edge of a rocky cliff. Russell's painted plaster portrait busts of Navajo and Blackfeet men and women convey dignity and soulfulness. His powerful bronzes of buffalo, grizzly bears and Rocky Mountain sheep reflect his concern for the preservation of wild species. Besides bronzes, he also made painted wax and plaster models of wildlife, remarkable for their empathy and wealth of detail; comic caricatures of cowboys and drunks; and exquisite miniatures of medieval knights in armor and Saharan camels with their riders. Stewart, a curator at the Amon Carter Museum in Fort Worth (which houses the complete set of Russell's bronzes), provides an informal biographical-critical essay and commentaries on the 425 plates (125 in color). (Jan.)