Alexander Phimister Proctor
American, 1860 - 1950
One of "the best-known monuments in the nation is the 'Pioneer Mother' monument in Kansas City" (Reynolds 220), which is Proctor's over-life size sculpture tribute to pioneer women. He often traveled into the Pacific Northwest for subject matter, and on one of his westward treks, the idea for this work came to him when he saw a trapper and a hunter walking beside a pioneer woman riding sidesaddle on a horse loaded with family belongings. The piece was commissioned by Kansas City businessman Howard Vanderslice who saw Proctor's preliminary sketches for the piece. To execute the work, Proctor took a large studio at the Academy in Rome, and "Pioneer Mother" was unveiled on November 11, 1927.
At age four, Proctor moved with his family from Canada to Iowa in a prairie schooner, and as a young man, did a lot of hunting and trapping in the western United States. In 1881, he first traveled to California. Six years later, he headed East for New York City to get art training and studied at the Art Students League and the National Academy of Design, and then took further study in Paris at Academie Colarossi.
His travels in the West took him to the Rocky Mountains where he became a hunting friend of Major John Pitcher, who became superintendent of Yellowstone Park. In 1907, Pitcher was under pressure to decrease the cougar population of the Park. He rescued one of the cats, affectionately known as Yellowstone Pete, by sending it back to the Bronx in New York to Proctor whose studio was in a huge space that allowed him to work in large scale from live models. Proctor had Yellowstone Pete housed at the Bronx Zoo and then tried to model from him. But the cougar was so uncooperative that Proctor finally took the animal to his farm near Bedford, New York where Proctor was able to complete the sculpture, "Panther with Kill", 1907.
During most of his career, he had a studio in New York City, but from 1919, he also had one in Palo Alto, California, where he died at the home of his sister in 1950.
Source:
Edan Hughes, "Artists in California, 1786-1940"
Peter Hassrick, "Drawn to Yellowstone"
Donald Martin Reynolds, "Masters of American Sculpture"
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A sculptor of cowboy and western genre and figures, Alexander Proctor created "Buckaroo" for the plaza of the Civic Center in Denver, near the site where he had attended grade school and had seen herds of wild antelope grazing.
Source: "Southwest Art", January 1996, 'Days in Colorado', Editor
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Note from Sarah Boehme, Buffalo Bill Historical Center in Cody, Wyoming:
Alexander Phimister Proctor's birth date is September 27, 1860, not 1862 as previously written in the literature. This is information supplied by scholar Peter Hassrick who has done research on Proctor for a forthcoming exhibition at the Amon Carter Museum. This birth date is also confirmed on the time line on Proctor on website of the Proctor Museum.
ALEXANDER PHIMISTER PROCTOR (1862-1950)
Alexander Phimister Proctor was born in Ontario Canada in 1862 to second generation pioneers. In the spring of 1871 the family moved to Denver, Colorado with the hope of prosperity. Exploring the Colorado Rockies with his father, Proctor developed a permanent interest in wildlife. Through studying and sketching specimens he developed a deep visual understanding of their artistic merits.
Proctor moved to New York in 1885 where he enrolled at the National Academy of Design and the Art Student's League. In 1887 he met the sculptor John Rodgers and under his tutelage took up the modeling of wild animals seriously. After several years of winter studies in New York and summer adventures in the mountains of Washington and Colorado, Proctor's plans were to return to New York. On his return he was intercepted by a telegram from Chicago inviting him there for what was to be his greatest opportunity.
In 1891 he arrived in Chicago to begin his newly commissioned work for the World's Colombian Exposition that was to open in 1893. He sculpted thirty-five life-size animals depicting those he hunted and studied in his mountain adventures. He also created two enormous equestrian sculptures. The work brought Proctor into the international spotlight and financial stability.
Seeking a more formal education he moved to Paris for a year and studied at the Julien Academy under the tutelage of Denys Puech. There his work won the admiration of Parisian art critics and Augustas Saint-Gauden.
Returning to the states, he began work on sculptures of General Logan and General Sherman for Saint-Gauden. In 1896 Proctor received the Rinehart Scholarship and was back in Paris for three years of study. His bronzes 'Stalking Panther' and 'The Indian Warrior' were exhibited at the Paris Exposition of Nineteen hundred and won him the Gold Medal. Proctor had as many commissions as he could handle. He often was overlapping them to satisfy his demand.
Over the course of his life he created a prodigious amount of art. His enthusiasm and love of life is seen in all his sculptures that can be found across the states and around the world.
Literature:
Patricia Jarvis Broader, "Bronzes of the American West," Abrams, New York, 1974. Illustration of another example on page 114, plate 104.
Alexander Proctor seemed to have an ability to enjoy life and perceive nature unencumbered. Thus, he could easily address the challenge of capturing the fierceness of a panther, and in his next work, portray the delicacy of a timid fawn.
Proctor had two deep desires in life: the first being to spend as much time in the wilderness and the second to accomplish something worthwhile in art. He became known for his wild animal and equestrian sculptors and chronicles of the American West.
Proctor was born in 1862 in Ontario Canada. Shortly thereafter, in 1871, his family moved to Denver, Colorado. Considering himself a genuine westerner, he gave himself the nickname "Sculptor in Buckskin."
In 1885, he became a student at the National Academy of Design and the Student's Art League in New York. He studied under the sculptor John Rodgers. He spent his summers seeking adventures in the mountains of Washington and Colorado. With a goal of capturing the spirit of his adventures, he sculpted thirty-five life-sized animals. These works which were commissioned for the Work's Colombian Exposition in 1893, and gave Proctor both recognition and financial stability.
After this first success, Proctor went to Paris for a year for more formal training. He attended the Julian Academy where he studied under Denys Puesch. In 1893, he won his first prize at annual competition in Paris for The Boxer-Pug. His work received the praise of Parisian Art Critics and Augustas Saint-Gauden who commissioned several of his works: one being General Sherman's horse, which now resides in Central Park, New York City.
In the Fall of 1896, he received the Rinehart Scholarship, which enabled him to spend the following three years studying art in Paris.
Person TypeIndividual
British, English, active in America, born 1931
