GREAT FALLS — Anticipation ran high on Saturday night at The Russell, the cornerstone event of Western Art Week during which buyers commit millions of dollars in a matter of hours to depictions of the Old West.On stage at the Heritage Inn convention room, C.M. Russell Museum Executive Director Chr is Warden set the tone for the spectacle that is western art auctioneering.“Buckle up, because the rocket’s taking off,” he told the crowd.Communications from the stage were mostly dollar figures after that as auctioneer Troy Black began rattling off bid prices. The auction team had their hands full with 168 items to sell on Saturday, having already auctioned off 105 the previous night. This year’s catalog was significant in a few respects. The auction included 329 pieces — 82 more than last year and 105 more than the 2023 event. The organizers also added an online auction for the first time to sell some items.The 120 historic pieces included in that total represented a record for the auction’s 57-year history. The artwork included pieces by Charlie Russell contemporaries like O.C. Seltzer, Joseph Henry Sharp and Edgar S. Paxson, whose works fetched prices well into six figures. And the museum secured more than 25 works by Russell himself for the auction. In previous years, fewer than five Russell pieces were typically released for sale.C.M. Russell Museum Executive Director Chris Warden gives opening remarks at The Russell auction on March 22, 2025. Credit: Matt Hudson / MTFP“His art is so sought after around the world that it really doesn’t come to market in this quantity or quality very often,” Warden told Montana Free Press in early March, weeks before the auction.The Russell has been a cultural institution in Great Falls, where the initials of Charles Marion Russell are dug into a western hillside. Today, one of two public high schools bears the artist’s name. The high plains region of central Montana, which residents will recognize in many of the artist’s paintings, is known simply as Russell Country.For the auction’s host, the C.M. Russell Museum, the annual event raises as much as 40% of its operating revenue. In many ways, preparation for The Russell 2025 began in March 2024, just as the previous event ended. But preparation work for the auction intensified last fall, when museum staff started to shepherd 329 pieces of fine art from consignors to the museum galleries, to the auction stage and, finally, into the spaces of the people lucky enough to purchase one.This is a look at what it took to pull off The Russell 2025.ASSEMBLING A CATALOGEvery auction piece that arrived on the museum’s loading dock through the summer and fall received an examination that was noted in a condition report. Staff compiled the artwork’s title, medium, dimensions, framing and overall condition. Finally, each piece received a lot number to begin assembling the auction catalog. rELATED A stunning Russell up for auction Localizing federal cuts. by Matt Hudson 03.10.202503.07.2025 “If you can think of the incredible logistics that it takes to bring 329 pieces of art together, this is art that comes to us from all over North America,” Warden said. “Just the shipping and delivery logistics are pretty incredible.”Many of the art consignors have longtime relationships with the museum, Warden said. As part of receiving artwork for auction, the museum is able to capitalize on the collection to form a temporary exhibit. It’s rare to own a Russell, but Warden said the auction gives the broader public the chance to experience the art, which otherwise can end up in private ownership. Some pieces hadn’t been publicly viewable for 30 or 40 years.The museum has 17 galleries, three-quarters of which are set up with permanent or traveling exhibits. As the auction art began arriving in October, a challenge of space emerged to make way for more than 300 new items. The curatorial team had to accommodate many more pieces than would normally be hung in the galleries, a situation that Warden described as a “mad scramble” and an amazing logistical feat.Artwork for The Russell was on display at the C.M. Russell Museum for a month prior to the auction. The longtime practice gives the public, and potential buyers, the chance to inspect the works. Credit: Matt Hudson / MTFPThe deep bench of historical work at the 2025 auction was due in part to a large consignment from a private collection. The family of the late Sam and Elaine Rosenthal brought 98 pieces to the auction, including 21 Russell works and other historical art valued at more than $2 million. The Rosenthals, owners of a significant Western art collection, had attended The Russell auctions in the past. Warden said it was a rare opportunity to bring those items back to the stage.“Part of what we were hoping is that their family would feel a connection to this incredible community they were part of, and obviously they did,” he said.Staff cleared out four galleries to hang the auction pieces, which went on display for a month prior to the auction. It’s a practice the museum has done for years, giving the public a chance to see the auction art. But there’s also a fair amount of buyer research that takes place. Duane Braaten, museum director of art and philanthropy, said that he’s often fielding calls from prospective buyers in the weeks before the auction. They want to know about the framing, the details on the back of the canvas and anything else that’s not captured in the catalog image.“When the serious buyers flock to town, they really like to take a closer look,” Braaten said.Occasionally, the museum will pull a piece off the wall for a buyer (or a representative) to make a closer inspection. In a dark back room, they run a black light over historical pieces to assess how much restoration work has been done. These are major purchases, after all.Charlie Russell painted “Women of America” in 1924, just after the passage of the 19th Amendment but before Indigenous peoples received U.S. citizenship. Credit: Courtesy of C.M. Russell MuseumFor The Russell 2025, the most prized piece was lot No. 245, “Women of America.” It’s a large C.M. Russell watercolor painting finished 100 years before arriving at the museum that bears his name. Valued between $1.6 million and $2.4 million, the painting depicts a group of Indigenous women moving camp at a time when they didn’t have United States citizenship. It’s held up as an example of Russell’s progressive portrayals of his Indigenous neighbors who were disenfranchised by the country that colonized their ancestral lands. The title and themes in the piece portray generations of women as the leaders in their families and in this country.“I think when we first saw it, we knew it was a significant piece, but as we did the history and research around it and understood what it was, it might be one of the neatest Russell pieces to ever grace the cover of our catalog,” Warden said.THE CRATE SYSTEMIt was Thursday, March 20, the night before the first of two auction days. A packed auction preview party cleared out of the museum galleries, and the art crates rolled out.Geoff Stocking, the chief collections and exhibitions officer who has been with the museum for 12 years, assembled the team to begin packing up the art for transport to the auction site.“The ideal is that everybody gets out of there by 10 [p.m.],” Stocking said.The crate system is the linchpin to an organized auction, especially important with this year’s large catalog. In the lower-level gallery, Associate Curator Sarah Adcock read from the auction catalog and called for paintings in order of lot number. Museum staff, all trained to safely handle fine art, found the appropriate pieces and brought them to the crates. Each piece was tagged with the lot number and placed in the crate in order so they could be pulled for auction. A slip of paper taped to each crate noted the lot numbers contained within.Many of the staff members changed into comfortable shoes before tearing down art. Auction week means a string of late nights and lots of walking, but there was a lot of fun in springing to action for the primetime event.Bridger Lutz, the museum’s director of education and programming, described in jest the toughest part about handling fine art.“The intrusive thoughts that tell you to punch or kick it,” he said. Geoff Stocking, museum chief collections and exhibitions officer, talks with staff before packing up auction art on March 20, 2025. Credit: Matt Hudson/MTFPIn truth, there are many rules to carefully handle the art. Don’t touch the painted surface, of course. Everyone wears gloves because the oils coming off of their hands can damage the artwork, even the frame. Take care not to push into the canvas from behind. Staff walked the pieces over to museum Registrar Ross Thomas, who was quarterbacking the crates. Once and a while, he asked for a piece’s medium. Oil paint is pretty sturdy in storage. But watercolor paint is sensitive, and setting one of those on its side can affect even a historical painting. The rule of thumb is to let the artwork sit as it was originally painted whenever possible.The process repeated and the crates lined up for transport. Sculptures and other 3-D works go into separate boxes. Sometimes an oversized piece will need to be put into a wider crate, throwing off the order slightly. But it’s a proven system.“It takes a little bit more time to organize, but it’s a lot less headache in the end,” Stocking said.The final piece, lot No. 329, went into the crate at 10:29 p.m.THE RUSSELL TAKES THE STAGEFriday, March 21, was moving day. It wasn’t the most complex undertaking of the weekend, but it was the time when crates of valuable art left the relatively secure confines of the museum. Stocking said that his staff members are trained to be vigilant during the moving process and at the Heritage Inn, where the auctions take place. That morning, two moving trucks hauled the art and other supplies to be rolled into a staging area behind the hotel’s conference room. There, security contractors guard the area around the clock.Art and equipment for The Russell 2025 are unloaded at the Heritage Inn in Great Falls. Credit: Matt Hudson / MTFPFriday evening was First Strike, the first of two main live auctions featuring a mix of historical and contemporary pieces. Saturday evening was the main event, The Russell when the most valuable pieces hit the auction stage. Prior to the start of the show, Stocking gave some last-minute advice to some of the newer art handlers. He told them to make sure the entire crowd gets a good look at each piece and to follow the auctioneer’s guidance if two bidders start going back and forth.“If there’s a bidding war over here, watch that and show it over here before turning the other way,” he said.About 17 volunteer art handlers provided the muscle to haul and show the artwork at The Russell. They’ve been mainstays at the auction for years. Butch Van Driet said he was among the longest-tenured art handlers with 18 auction years under his belt. He said it’s a good idea to angle the art slightly to give the audience a better view.“Make sure everybody gets to see it,” he said. “Tilt it down to avoid the glare.”After opening remarks from Warden, The Russell was off and running with auctioneer Black at the helm. Over more than four hours, Black kept up a frenetic pace to auction off piece after piece, sometimes urging individual bidders to pony up. When the tactic works, it’s exciting as the crowd hoots and hollers as a bidding war blossoms.Auctioneer Troy Black worked for more than four hours in front of the crowd at The Russell 2025. Credit: Matt Hudson / MTFPBehind the scenes, staff members reaped the organizational benefits of the crate system. They pulled art pieces in lot order and brought them out to a queue of art handlers who sat in the hallway between the staging room and the auction room. From there, the handlers waited on deck at stage right before it was time to bring their pieces out to be auctioned.“Women of America” hit the stage about mid-auction. The designated art handlers were Olivia Isakson and her grandmother, Tina Freeman. The piece went for $1.6 million at auction and fetched a final sale price of $1.84 million after adding the buyer’s premium.Any auction will shoot for a 100% sale rate. If bidders don’t reach the minimum reserve price, the auctioneer will move on to the next piece. At The Russell, 21 pieces failed to meet the reserve and were passed for a 94% sale rate (Stocking said this was a “pretty great” rate). After the auction, Braaten began working with interested parties to sell the pieces that were passed over during the auction. Others went for large sums above their estimated values. One Russell painting, a piece from 1903 titled “Mandan Buffalo Hunt,” sold at auction for $750,000, well above the high appraisal of $650,000.Olivia Isakson and her grandmother, Tina Freeman, served as the art handlers for C.M. Russell’s “Women of America,” which sold at auction for $1.6 million last week. Credit: Matt Hudson / MTFPEven as the final lots went on stage, staff in the staging room unfurled massive rolls of plastic and bubble wrap to package sold art for buyers to take home. The staff called this “art release,” and it can take time for all of the art to reach its final destination. Most airline passengers won’t stow a Russell painting as a carry-on item.“A lot of this stuff, when it sells at auction, it doesn’t necessarily go home with people right away,” Stocking said. “So there’s this process that happens after the auction that takes about a month and longer a lot of times to contact the buyers and get everything shipped to their homes.”The museum reported total gross sales of $9.16 million, which is just short of a record year for The Russell.For buyers who were able to take their pieces home that night, fulfilling those orders required a couple of hours of extra work after the auction. Stocking said that some buyers will be surprised at their art purchases being much bigger in person than on stage. A couple of contemporary artists hand-delivered their pieces to the buyers. One buyer, who lives a couple blocks from the Heritage Inn, had their art walked home by a museum staffer.Those kinds of personal touches by the small museum staff to administer the sales of millions of dollars in fine art illustrated the unique flavor of The Russell as a Western art auction. There was a feeling of gravity about all the money in the room coupled with the more casual air of a wild west tradition. “You never know if a buyer is going to be wearing a tuxedo or walking in from the river,” Braaten said. About 17 art handlers ushered hundreds of pieces of art onto the stage at The Russell 2025 in Great Falls. Credit: Matt Hudson / MTFPOn Tuesday, the museum reported total gross sales of $9.16 million, which is just short of a record year for The Russell. If some of the passed items get sold in the weeks to come, that could potentially push the figure over the record mark.Each auction year begets the next. Braaten said that the events charge collectors’ curiosities about what pieces will hit the stage next year. And there will be an anniversary to recognize in 2026. It will be 100 years since Russell’s death, which the museum will be marking with exhibitions and themes that celebrate the artist’s legacy.Plans are preliminary, but part of the exhibition will involve the use of technology to, as Stocking put it, “bring Charlie to life.”In-depth, independent reporting on the stories impacting your community from reporters who know your town. LATEST STORIES Poll: A majority of Montanans express concern over child care availability, affordability According to a Montana Free Press-Eagleton Poll conducted in January and February, 71% of Montanans expressed concern about the cost of child care. About 64% said they were concerned about the availability of child care in their community. 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