Romance Maker

For the first time, one book has managed to provide a comprehensive survey of watercolor works by master artist Charles M. Russell. Even more in-depth, Romance Maker examines his self-taught painting technique that was supported by many folks he met during his time spent on the open range, revealing his mastery of the medium in a way that has never been done before now.

After watching his mother paint, Russell picked up the brush during a time when watercolor had become known as the American medium, and the rest, they say, is history. This collection includes examples of Russell’s watercolors that blended the reality of the times and also its romanticism from 1882 to his last year of life, 1926, along with an essay by Rick Stewart that studies the rise in popularity of watercolor as well as reveals details of the artist’s life, which was just as colorful as his art.

—Allison Carlton