Lone Native American rider on a white horse on the plains
Image Credit

Charles Marion Russell, The Scout (detail), 1915. Oil paint on canvas; 21 x 26 in. Planned Gift from Tom and Jane Petrie to the Denver Art Museum. Photo by Jeff Wells, courtesy Denver Art Museum

Storytellers

The Blackfeet Nation & Charles M. Russell
Opens September 6, 2026

Charles Marion Russell, The Scout (detail), 1915. Oil paint on canvas; 21 x 26 in. Planned Gift from Tom and Jane Petrie to the Denver Art Museum. Photo by Jeff Wells, courtesy Denver Art Museum

Storytellers: The Blackfeet Nation & Charles M. Russell features over 80 artworks including oil paintings, watercolors, and bronzes by Charles M. Russell and ancestral artworks from the Blackfoot Confederacy (Nitsitapii), especially the Kainai (Blood Tribe) and Amskaapii Pikanni (Blackfeet or South Peigan), from the late-19th to mid-20th centuries.

This milestone presentation is made possible by a landmark gift of masterworks from the collection of Tom and Jane Petrie, which significantly expands the DAM's western American art holdings. The gift includes some of Russell's most celebrated masterworks, both paintings and sculptures.

Storytellers puts ancestral Nitsitapii works from the museum's collection into dialogue with Russell’s representations of Blackfeet art and culture. Through these comparisons, the exhibition explores the deep spiritual connection to bison and the vital contributions of Blackfeet women, including excellent examples of beadwork, hide-tanning, and saddle making. Other areas focus on the roles of Blackfeet men as warriors and medicine men, revealing how Russell’s famous "Old West" scenes were built upon the real-world knowledge of his Indigenous mentors.

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Hamilton Building, Level 1
Included in general admission

Related Events

Group of Native Americans circling around a buffalo

Charles Marion Russell, Buffalo Hunt, Number 40, 1919. Oil paint on canvas; 39 x 57 in. Planned Gift from Tom and Jane Petrie to the Denver Art Museum. Photo by Christina Jackson, courtesy Denver Art Museum

Deer hide artwork depicting groups of horseback riders

Possibly Percy (Two Gun) Plain Woman (Káínai Nation (Blood Tribe), War Robe, Late 1880s to Early 1900s. Deer hide and commercial pigment; 58 1/4 in. x 48 1/2 in. Denver Art Museum: Native Arts acquisition funds, 1938.260

Colorful beaded patterned dress shirt

Amskaapii Pikanii artist, Dress Yoke, about 1900. Hide, beads, muslin, and flour sack; 22 x 34 x 11 in. Denver Art Museum: Gift of Charles J. Norton, 1980.214.

Three Native American men on horseback looking out at the top of a ridge

Charles Marion Russell, The Fireboat, 1918. Oil on board, Framed: 23 × 32 in. C. M. Russell Museum, Great Falls, Montana: Gift of Mrs. Wade George in memory of Wade Hampton George, S956-2-1

Leather and beaded white gloves with a flower pattern on the hand

Nora Spanish (Amskaapii Pikanii, 1898–1990), Pair of Gloves, 1940s. Leather and beads; Each approx. 18 × 8⅛ × 4¼ in. Denver Art Museum: Bequest of the Estate of Gerald E. Welsh, 1981.240A-B

Leather strip of cloth with dangling beads adorned on the bottom

Amskaapii Pikanii artist, Martingale, late 1800s. Cloth, glass beads, leather, thimbles. The L. D. and Ruth Bax Collection at the Denver Art Museum, 1985.111

Group of Native Americans on horseback, riding at sunset

Charles Marion Russell, Piegans, 1918. Oil paint on canvas; 24 x 36 in. Planned Gift from Tom and Jane Petrie to the Denver Art Museum. Photo by Christina Jackson, courtesy Denver Art Museum

Hand drum with three animals embroidered into it, forming a circle

Amskaapii Pikanii artist, Aistookiimaaksi (Hand Drum), before 1860. Leather, paint, wood, and ink; 30¼ × 40¾ × 2 in. dia. The L. D. and Ruth Bax Collection at the Denver Art Museum, 1985.245

Large cowhide cloth comprised of paint, beads, and hair

Amskaapii Pikanii artist, Lodge Liner, about 1920. Cowhide, paint, beads, and hair; 82 x 174 in. The L.D and Ruth Bax Collection at the Denver Art Museum, 1985.259

Native American man riding a white horse in the middle of the Western plains

Charles Marion Russell, The Scout, 1915. Oil paint on canvas; 21 x 26 in. Planned Gift from Tom and Jane Petrie to the Denver Art Museum. Photo by Jeff Wells, courtesy Denver Art Museum

Storytellers: The Blackfeet Nation & Charles M. Russell is organized by the Denver Art Museum. It is presented by Tom and Jane Petrie. Additional support is provided by Mary Pat and Richard McCormick, the Wyeth Foundation for American Art, the donors to the Annual Fund Leadership Campaign, and the residents who support the Scientific and Cultural Facilities District (SCFD).