Charlie's Montana by John DeMott

SOLD

Charlie's Montana by John DeMott

Oil on Canvas

30" x 40"

43" x 53" (framed)

Estimated Value: $25,000-$40,000

Purchase now or contact the gallery to make an offer.

This a piece that truly belongs in the C.M. Russell Museum. The subject, Charlie Russell, was notoriously a terrible cowboy who owned a very small horse, and John DeMott aimed to paint this piece as historically accurate as possible.

Provenance: This painting sold at auction around 2017 for $32,000 and the seller is willing to let it go for a very reasonable amount.

From the Artist: "The inspiration for this painting, Charlie’s Montana, came out of several trips I made to the Sun River near Augusta, Montana. The painting depicts Charles Russell and his horse Monte on an overlook of the beautiful Sun River, possibly pondering his next masterworks. The North Fork of the Sun meanders down from the Bob Marshall Wilderness and flows generally southward, where it meets up with the South Fork, finally joining the Missouri River in Great Falls. The Sun River was also called Medicine River by the Blackfeet Indians who fiercely fought for control of this stretch of water because of its high mineral content that was used for medicine. As I walked the banks of the Sun several times, I could not help but notice just how wild this country still is, with grizzly bears, elk, and an abundance of wildlife. I sat on the high banks and wondered what Charlie Russell must have thought when he discovered the beauty of this area near his hometown of Great Falls." - John DeMott

In his search to conjure up on canvas the American West during the 1850’s to the turn of the century, John DeMott does more than work from models. He stands in the path of stampeding buffalo, participates in 1880-style shoot-outs and spends time on Civil War battlefields. His style, which he calls, “historical realism,” combines Impressionism and realism, and includes wildlife, northern plains figures and other various frontier characters.
DeMott was raised on a thoroughbred racehorse ranch in Southern California and loved hanging out with cowboys. He had no formal art education and simply began painting at age ten from an art kit his family gave him. Some of his earliest marketed works were metal creations sold through Bullock’s Department Store. By 1977, however, DeMott decided to sell the metal business to his brother and devote himself to painting full-time. Early on in his new career, his favorite subject and medium was wildlife in gouache but, he quickly expanded his repertoire to include the historical American West. By the time he was 24, he had gallery representation.
In the early 1990’s, he moved to Loveland, Colorado, where he has been able to associate with many plein-air landscape artists including, Clyde Aspevig and Richard Schmid. From his studio, DeMott paints depictions of wildlife, Indians, and frontier figures in landscapes, usually working on several paintings at once, moving from one canvas to the next.
John’s work is recognized as one of the top American western painters of our time. His work can be found in private and corporate collections throughout the United States and Europe.