WINDING DOWN THE ART BOOM

My eyes are still bad, so instead of writing, I'll make this a true "log" of websites I visited this morning.  First, I realize we're getting close to cowboy artist Charlie Russell's birthday, which is memorialized by an auction in Great Falls.  I remember it's beginning and now I'm witnessing its diminishment.  There is one Scriver bronze dating to 1983, called "When Cuttin' Was Rough".  A mounted cowboy roping a steer.  #92 of 102 in edition.

http://cmrussell.org/2020-catalog/mobile/index.html

There are two memorials to previous major figures that are included in the catalogue.  I was not aware of these deaths since I'm no longer part of the world, but they are two types that are interesting, and they are about my age, active in the Sixties.

First is Peter Hassrick, the gentleman and scholar face of the art category.  There's a lot more to say.  He was part of the circle of curators and writers who found things to say about the artists and their importance.  This is the side that keys with Republicans, esp. those who made their money through resources and then founded museums.  He followed McCracken, little autocrat and powerhouse at the Cody Museums, for twenty years with a far more elevated style of management and authorship.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_H._Hassrick

Second is Jay Contway, born in Malta and beginning his adulthood by teaching in small communities all along the  High-Line.  What's remarkable is that he is never identified as Native American, though his photo shows he's an "Indian" and for some years he sponsored an alternative auction parallel to the big Russell auction that was specifically for "Indians."  Canada liked him.

https://www.schniderfuneralhome.com/obituaries/Jay-Joseph-Contway?obId=9106656#/obituaryInfo