Great Falls, Montana
Charlie Russell was suffering from a heart condition when he painted “Laugh Cures Lonesome” in 1925. He died a year later at 62 years of age.
“I have throwed my last leg over a saddle; the old pump is about to quit.”
Charles Marion Russell
Laugh Cures Lonesome is arguably one of Charles Russell’s most famous paintings. The warm light of a campfire illuminates a small group of cowboys at rest, in the vastness of space and prairie night.
Camaraderie among the cowhands is obvious as they go about their evening routine. Their work is done for the day, so they share coffee, easy conversation, and card games late into the evening to avoid what comes next.
Every cowboy dreads the creep of night, and the loneliness that will follow.
The artist sketched himself into this painting. Charlie is standing on the right, holding court, and watching as the fire dies down. Charlie would have been aware of the poignancy of the moment, the brevity of his connection to these men, the vanishing nature of his chosen lifestyle, and the reality that his life was drawing to a close.
A joke, probably told by Charlie, relieves the tension.
Laugh Cures Lonesome is a farewell to the cowboy way of life, and to Charles Russell’s life, which were…
… One and the Same.
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