The Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center has sold a group of more than 13,000 objects associated with famed Western artist Charles M. Russell to the Gilcrease Museum in Tulsa, a major repository of his works.
The little-known collection was assembled by one of the artist’s biographers, Homer E. Britzman with the help of the artist’s wife, Nancy. It was bequeathed to the fine arts center by Helen Britzman in 1972.
It contains primarily archival materials and personal effects, including everything from paints and brushes to socks and tie tacks to illustrated letters and envelopes to a carved, ivory-handled revolver.
Because these objects are by and large not artworks, they did not fit the collecting mission of the Fine Arts Center, and they had sat in storage virtually untouched.
“We never showed it, and didn’t intend to show it,” said Sam Gappmayer, the center’s president and chief executive. “It needed to be somewhere where there were scholars that had some ties to Russell and the American West.”
Although the holding probably would have drawn a higher price on the open market, fine arts center leaders insisted it be kept intact and transferred to another public collection.
The Fine Arts Center solicited bids from select institutions with an interest in Russell’s work, and the Gilcrease Museum, which is administered by the University of Tulsa, was the top bidder. The purchase price was not disclosed.
The guidelines of the American Association of Museums (which was consulted on this sale) specify that proceeds of collection holdings can be used only for future acquisitions.
But because these objects (with the exception of 17 artworks that were not part of the sale) were never accessioned or formally accepted into the art center’s collection, that rule does not apply.
Gappmayer said the money will be used for general operations and programs. — Kyle MacMillan
