C.M. Russell Museum

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DescriptionThe award-winning C.M. Russell Museum contains more than 3,000 pieces of Western art in a complex that covers an entire city block and encompasses 16 exhibition galleries, educational programming spaces, a dedicated research center, and an impressive outdoor sculpture garden. With nearly 1,000 Charles M. Russell creations in our collection, the museum presents Russell’s comprehensive, very personal, and authentic reflection on Western history. Also showcased are Russell contemporaries who have captured the traditions of North Plains Indian life, Montana wildlife and landscapes, and cowboy culture. You will discover important work by O.C. Seltzer, Winold Reiss, Joseph H. Sharp, E. E. Heikka, Maynard Dixon, E. I. Couse, Olaf Wieghorst, Henry Farny, Frank Tenney Johnson, and more. We welcome you and the over 30,000 annual visitors who come to Great Falls to immerse themselves in Russell’s West at the museum and our onsite crown jewel of the Russell legacy, the original Russell House and Studio, a National Historic Landmark.

Charles M. Russell and Joe De Yong Research Materials from Richard J. Flood II
The Richard J. Flood II Collection at the C.M. Russell Museum consists of the collected papers, correspondence, and photographs of Joe De Yong. As Charles Russell’s only protége, De Yong spent a significant portion of his time living with the Russell family and working with Russell in his studio, particularly during the last decade of Russell’s life.

The digitized portion of the Flood Collection available online consists of approximately 350 loose, double-sided pages of handwritten notes and pencil sketches produced by Charles Russell and Joe De Yong during their time together in Russell’s studio. As De Yong was deaf, he and Russell often relied on handwritten notes and sketches to discuss the subject matter and methodology of Russell’s art, as well as various other topics of the day. These informal papers therefor offer a window into the artist’s methods and thought processes, preserving conversations that would otherwise have been lost to history. Furthermore, a number of the pencil drawings found in the Flood Collection have been identified as preliminary sketches for major Russell paintings, providing further insight into Russell’s artistic processes.
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Charles M. Russell and Joe De Yong Research Materials from Richard J. Flood II

C.M. Russell Museum