• My favorite Chatham painting
  • But he was also known for his lithographs, this one being my favorite
  • Stephen Collector, a good friend of Chatam’s before he passed, loves photographing in the fog, which was also coincidentally prevalent in a lot of Chatham images

Jim Harrison, Tom McGuane, Russell Chatham, Jim Fergus, Stephen Collector formed a Tribe for chasing birds and tarpon in the wake of Hemingway’s passing. John Gierach, Archie Best, and Mike Clark sort of did the same thing with dry flies and bamboo rods in wake of Lee Wulff. Tides come and tides go, some bigger than others. But the ones who write and photograph about it leave something behind for us all to enjoy.

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Russell Chatham (October 27, 1939 – November 10, 2019) was a contemporary American landscape artist and author who spent most of his career living in Livingston, Montana. He was essentially self-taught and his work eschewed the narrative tendency of much western art and presented landscapes that stand in intimate relationship towards the human figure even in the absence of it. In the early 1980s Chatham began making lithographs and stood as one of the world’s foremost practitioners of that craft.

In addition to Lithography, Chatham also produced original oil paintings. His oil paintings currently sell for tens of thousands of dollars, and there was a multi-year waiting list for commissions, but according to his dealers, he preferred printing lithographs as the more challenging art form. (Longtime Livingston residents can recall a time when early in his career Chatham traded his canvases for essential services in a barter arrangement.) Despite being a print, Chatham’s lithographs have little to do with modern process lithography, which always starts from a photograph and typically only uses 4 colors. His art lithographs may have 30 or 40 different layers of color, all of which have to be hand drawn on to the printing plate, and the colors selected for the final effect. To see some of the early proofs of one of his prints is to see a study in vivid and unusual colors from which it is almost impossible to conceive of the final subtle shadings and quiet colors.[4]

In addition to his work as a painter, Chatham also authored several books. a series of short stories “Dark Waters” in which he detailed the exploits of his hunting friends, like the author Jim Harrison. The stories were Rabelaisian, vulgar, and exquisitely written (one suspects with a little help from his literary friends). William Hjortsberg disputed this during a presentation in Livingston on 9/12/2008. “He is quite a good writer in his own right,” Hjortsberg said. They center on hunting, fly fishing, food, wine and life changes. One story centers around preparing roast duck on an annual outing devoted solely to excess.[4][5] In addition to “Dark Waters”, Chatham authored several books about fly fishing.

Many of Chatham’s painted works have adorned the covers of Harrison‘s works.

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Landscape painter and author Russell Chatham lived a “Hemingway-esque” lifestyle defined by deep passions for fine art, gourmet food, and—above all—wild sport. While he never knew Ernest Hemingway, Chatham was deeply influenced by the writer’s ethos and ran in the same literary circles in Montana. [1, 2, 3, 4]
  • The “Tribe”: After Hemingway’s passing, Chatham and his closest friends—including literary heavyweights Jim Harrison and Tom McGuane—formed a tight-knit tribe for bird hunting and tarpon fishing that mirrored the adventurous, outdoors-driven spirit of Hemingway. [1, 2, 3]
  • The Lifestyle: Chatham was legendary for balancing a prolific career with extreme outdoor pursuits. Writer Tom McGuane often described Chatham as a man who “ruined his life with sport” by skulking out at all hours with both gun and rod. [1]
  • Cult Status: Chatham achieved an artistic and cultural cult status heavily likened to Hemingway’s, embracing a gritty, authentic American experience that seamlessly bled into his celebrated tonalist landscapes. [1, 2]  
  • Stephen Collector became the photographer for The Tribe.   
While both Ernest Hemingway and Jack O’Connor were legendary outdoor writers who romanticized global big-game hunting, their pursuits differed significantly. Hemingway was a passionate sportsman seeking the literary and existential thrill of dangerous game. O’Connor, the long-time firearms editor for Outdoor Life, was an obsessive mountain hunter who pioneered hunting the “Grand Slam” of wild sheep. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
A breakdown of their hunting grounds highlights their differing philosophies and geographies:
Ernest Hemingway: The Literary Sportsman
Hemingway’s hunts were deeply tied to his prose, focusing heavily on plains game, waterfowl, and iconic upland birds. [1, 2, 3]
  • East Africa (Kenya & Tanzania): He famously hunted in the Serengeti, Tarangire, and around Mount Kilimanjaro. He pursued lion, rhinoceros, and Cape buffalo, which inspired his books Green Hills of Africa and The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
  • Wyoming: He regularly hunted sage grouse, elk, and deer in the Clark’s Fork River and Pilot Creek drainages near the Bighorn Mountains. [1, 2, 3]
  • Idaho: Centered around his home in Ketchum, he hunted partridge, ducks, and upland birds in the high desert surrounding Sun Valley. [1, 2, 3]
  • Arkansas: He hunted mallards in the flooded timber and snow of the White River in the South Delta region. [1]
  • Northern Michigan: In his early years, he hunted grouse, ducks, and whitetail deer near Walloon Lake and Horton Bay. [1]
  • Cuba & The Florida Keys: While better known for deep-sea marlin fishing, he hunted migratory birds around his estate, Finca Vigía, and the Gulf Stream islands. [1, 2, 3, 4]

Jack O’Connor: The Mountain Hunter & Gun Writer
O’Connor’s primary obsession was wild sheep (Bighorn, Stone, Dall, and Desert Bighorn). He traveled globally, hunting the world’s most rugged terrain. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
  • The American Southwest: Growing up in Arizona, he relentlessly hunted Coues whitetail deer, mule deer, and Desert Bighorn sheep in the Sonoran Mountains and the rugged backcountry of Mexico.
  • Idaho: After moving to Lewiston, Idaho, he hunted elk, whitetails, and mule deer in the Hell’s Canyon and Clearwater River areas.
  • North American High Country: He stalked Stone sheep and elk in the Cassiar Mountains of British Columbia, Dall sheep in the Yukon, and Bighorn sheep in Alberta.
  • India & Iran: O’Connor traveled to Asia to hunt Himalayan tahr, as well as Marco Polo sheep in the Pamir Mountains and urial in Iran.
  • Africa: He hunted plains game—specifically kudu, sable, and various antelopes—in the bushlands of Zimbabwe and Zambia.
  • The Alps: He pursued the alpine ibex and chamois in the mountain ranges of Austria. [1, 2, 3, 4]