Meadowlark Gallery: The Artist Biographies

Alexander Phimister Proctor
(1862-1950)
Alexander Phimister Proctor was born in Bozanquit, Ontario, Canada in 1862 and died in Palo Alto, California in 1950. Proctor was an important animal, western, figure sculptor and painter. He was raised in Denver where he knew legendary frontier personalities. At the age of fourteen, he was spending his summers hunting and trapping in the Rockies, and became a self taught sketch artist on western subjects. He also began modeling animals and working alone. In 1887, he went to New York City for formal training at the National Academy of Design and the Art Student League. His first important exhibition was at the Columbian Exposition in 1893, following which he studied in Paris for a year until Saint Gaudens hired him as an assistant. In 1895, he won a Rinehart Scholarship for study in Paris at the Julien and Colarossi academies, the pupil of Puech and Injalbert. Success for Proctor came by 1900 so that he could spend his summers in the Northwest, hunting and making studies for his winters in New York City. Theodore Roosevelt commissioned the "Bison Heads" over the mantel in the state dining room of the White House. Many of his monuments were recast by the foundries, Roman Bronze and Gorham Bronze in sizes reduced to eight to thirty five inches high. Proctor also made pen and ink drawings, crayon drawings, small oils, and western animal etchings. During his lifetime, there were few major cities which did not have one of Proctor's monuments.
View high resolution images of works by Alexander Phimister Proctor when available.