: Over the course of his long career, Alexander Phimister Proctor
(1860-1950) was recognized as a premier sculptor of the American
West and a leader in sculpting wild animals. He won numerous
prestigious awards, especially for his large outdoor monuments,
and was widely acclaimed by his peers and the public alike. As
his grandson, Phimister Proctor Church, points out, Proctor
created 27 works of monumental sculpture, while his better-known
contemporaries, Frederic Remington and Charles M. Russell,
produced only one, by the latter.
Among the "Big Three" of Western sculpture - Proctor, Remington
and Russell - Proctor was the only one with formal art training,
and his output was prolific.
Proctor was the first sculptor to create monumental equestrian
sculptures portraying Native Americans and cowboys. His works
immortalized statesmen, pioneers, lawmen, women and all manner of
wild animals. Today, Proctor statues grace cities from New York,
Princeton, N.J., and Washington, D.C., to Chicago, Dallas,
Denver, San Francisco and Portland, Ore., as well as many
museums.
Nevertheless, Proctor is one of a number of highly accomplished
and significant American sculptors who have not received the
lasting public recognition and scholarly attention they deserve.
Fortunately, this gap has now been filled with this grand
exhibition at the Buffalo Bill Historical Center and the
accompanying book, both organized by the Amon Carter Museum in
Fort Worth, Texas.
