Alexander Phimister Proctor (American 1862-1950)
Q Street Bridge Buffalo, 1912
Bronze, brown patina
13 1/4 x 18 x 9 1/2 inches
Biography
Proctor is recognized as one of America’s foremost sculptors of animals and Native Americans, especially at the monumental scale. Born in Bozanquit, Ontario, his family moved to Colorado where he first sketched wild animals. Proctor moved to New York in 1885 and by 1886 he had enrolled at the National Academy of Design and the Art Students’ League. He dedicated himself to the study of animal anatomy and as a result his sculptures were extremely close to life in their modeling. His career took off after the World’s Columbian Exposition in 1893 where he showed thirty-five life sized animal plasters and two equestrian statues. In 1894 Proctor further honed his craft in Paris at the Academie Julian. Invitations to collaborate with Augustus Saint-Gaudens brought him back to New York after a year abroad. Proctor modeled the horses for two of Gaudens’ equestrian statues: General John A. Logan in Chicago’s Grant Park, and General William T. Sherman in New York’s Grand Army Plaza. After receiving the Rinehart Scholarship Proctor returned to Paris for several years. While there he earned critical acclaim for works submitted to the Paris Salon of 1898 and the Exposition Universelle of 1900.
Proctor’s best known sculptors include: the Princeton tigers at the entrance of Nassau Hall on the University campus; epic buffalo on the Q Street Bridge in Washington D.C.; lions at the Bronx Zoo in New York; and Bronco Buster and On the War Trail at the Denver Civic Center.
