Russ Vickers was noted as the artist for paintings shown at the beginning and
ending credits of the movie, CHISUM, starring John Wayne. There is one
painting in particular that begins the movie … a lone horseman staring off into the land while under a sparse shady tree … which then switches to the film’s first frame and same shot of John Wayne’s character looking out towards his land.
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Russ Vickers was a painter in realist or traditional style of western scenes, beginning with the Civil War and moving forward. He was born in Paris, Texas, and his father was a horse trader. He served in the Marines in World War II and as a combat artist in Korea.
He had little formal schooling and spent about twenty years as a technical illustrator for the aerospace industry in Los Angeles, painting western genre in his spare time. In 1970, he took the correspondence course from the Famous Artists School and began showing his paintings in Sedona. From 1973, he lived in Tempe, Arizona and dedicated himself to full-time painting.
Source:
“Contemporary Western Artists” by Peggy and Harold Samuels.
