In 1957 Jim took a trip to Europe to escape the day to day grind of set design for live television. On this trip he decided that he would resign from NBC TV and become a full-time artist. Jim made sketches and watercolors while traveling across Europe. On 0ur recent trip to Kewanna we also found out that Jim made photographs while on the trip. Below are three well done photographs from a bullfight that he attended while traveling in Spain. While overseas in WWII Jim attended an important art exhibition that included many works loaned by Picasso. While in Spain, possibly Jim wanted to experience the culture of the bullfight that inspired Picasso.
We have seen evidence that Jim enjoyed photography, but there were not a lot of examples of his work. Recently we found out that Jim printed many of his own photographs and had a darkroom in his Kewanna home. I had noticed an excellent Leica hanging from Jim’s neck in a photograph made in New York City and had always wondered where his photographs were. Someone with a camera that fine must have been serious about photography. On our last trip to Kewanna we learned that Jim’s photographs were thrown out into the trash by the handler of the estate. Needless to say, this saddened me greatly. At least we have a few examples of his work as shown below. Photographs are in the collection of Wade Bussert.
The Art of James Spencer Russell 