American, 1862 - 1950
Proctor's grandparents were pioneer Canadians who came to North America from England in the early 1830s. The future sculptor spent his early years in Des Moines, Iowa, and Denver, Colorado. The untamed American west with its assortment of Rocky Mountain characters and wildlife influenced Proctor's art for the rest of his life.
Surprisingly, it was his father's idea that the young Proctor should study art and his education in that direction began with several local Denver artists, including J. Harrison Mills who had come west from New York. Mills taught Proctor the art of wood engraving and Proctor soon received a commission to design illustrations for a book of Sheriff Dave Cook's tales.
With the continued encouragement of his father and money from the sale of some land, Proctor went to New York in November, 1885. He found a room near the National Academy where he immediately entered the Antique Class for the academic year of 1885-86. Of that experience, he later wrote, "An artist named [Lemuel] Willmarth [sic] was my first teacher, and I quickly found out that my rough-and-ready work did not quite accord with his smooth, painstaking style and refined tastes. I worked very seriously, however, and gradually earned his respect." Proctor continued his drawing instruction at the Art Students League where he studied under James Carroll Beckwith.
In the fall of 1887, on the advice of sculptor John Rogers, Proctor decided to try his hand at serious sculpting. One of his first products was a figure in wax of a whitetail fawn, the model for which he had observed at a New York zoo. His interest in sculpting animals was sparked by this effort and soon he produced a large figure of a panther, entitled Fate. He even began dissecting animals to improve his knowledge of their anatomy. Meanwhile, he continued drawing, painting, and working in watercolors and quickly became known for his depictions of animals in these media. In 1891, he was invited to participate in the upcoming Columbian Exposition in Chicago. His sculptures of life size animals which decorated the bridges over the lagoons at the fair represented his first large commission. While working on this project he met most of the major American sculptors of the day including Olin Warner, Augustus Saint-Gaudens and Daniel Chester French.
In 1893 Proctor and his new spouse, fellow artist Margaret Gerow, left for Paris where the artist entered classes at the Acad‚mie Julien and studied sculpture under Denys Puech and Injalbert. The following year, he was commissioned by Saint-Gaudens to model the horse for his equestrian monument to General John A. Logan (Grant Park, Chicago) and the Proctors left for America, settling a mile from Saint-Gaudens's Cornish, New Hampshire, studio for the purposes of the project. When this figure was completed, Saint-Gaudens asked Proctor to do a similar horse for his General Sherman (Central Park, New York) and the Proctors went to New York where the monument was to be erected.
By now, Proctor's fame was assured. In 1896 he won the Rinehart Scholarship, sharing it with Hermon MacNeil , and this award allowed him to take three more years of study in Paris. Commissions now began coming to Proctor on a regular basis. Among these were projects for Paris's International Exposition of 1900, Buffalo's Pan-American Exposition of 1901, and St. Louis's Louisiana Purchase Exposition of 1904.
Other major commissions for animal figures were also forthcoming. These included a pair of tigers for the entrance to Nassau Hall, Princeton, colossal tigers for the 16th Street Bridge, Washington, D. C., and four large buffaloes for the Q Street Bridge in the same city. In 1918, he modeled Broncho Buster and On the War Trail, two life size equestrian figures, for the city of Denver, Colorado, executed in bronze to replace the original and by now deteriorated plasters which Proctor had conceived for the 1893 Columbian Exposition. Beginning in 1914, the Proctors traveled extensively in the American West, living variously in Oregon, Idaho, and finally California. From 1925 to 1927, the sculptor was an artist in residence at the American Academy in Rome.
Proctor first exhibited his work at the National Academy in 1888 and continued to do so through the 1930's. Typically, the pieces he showed here were animal figures or models for major commissions such as On the Warpath (a.k.a. On the War Trail), shown here in four separate years (1902, cat. no. 394; 1922, cat. no. 102; 1925, cat. no. 335; and 1930, cat. no. 128). He began exhibiting with the Society of American Artists in 1891 and joined that organization in 1895. He was also a member of the National Sculpture Society.
Surprisingly, it was his father's idea that the young Proctor should study art and his education in that direction began with several local Denver artists, including J. Harrison Mills who had come west from New York. Mills taught Proctor the art of wood engraving and Proctor soon received a commission to design illustrations for a book of Sheriff Dave Cook's tales.
With the continued encouragement of his father and money from the sale of some land, Proctor went to New York in November, 1885. He found a room near the National Academy where he immediately entered the Antique Class for the academic year of 1885-86. Of that experience, he later wrote, "An artist named [Lemuel] Willmarth [sic] was my first teacher, and I quickly found out that my rough-and-ready work did not quite accord with his smooth, painstaking style and refined tastes. I worked very seriously, however, and gradually earned his respect." Proctor continued his drawing instruction at the Art Students League where he studied under James Carroll Beckwith.
In the fall of 1887, on the advice of sculptor John Rogers, Proctor decided to try his hand at serious sculpting. One of his first products was a figure in wax of a whitetail fawn, the model for which he had observed at a New York zoo. His interest in sculpting animals was sparked by this effort and soon he produced a large figure of a panther, entitled Fate. He even began dissecting animals to improve his knowledge of their anatomy. Meanwhile, he continued drawing, painting, and working in watercolors and quickly became known for his depictions of animals in these media. In 1891, he was invited to participate in the upcoming Columbian Exposition in Chicago. His sculptures of life size animals which decorated the bridges over the lagoons at the fair represented his first large commission. While working on this project he met most of the major American sculptors of the day including Olin Warner, Augustus Saint-Gaudens and Daniel Chester French.
In 1893 Proctor and his new spouse, fellow artist Margaret Gerow, left for Paris where the artist entered classes at the Acad‚mie Julien and studied sculpture under Denys Puech and Injalbert. The following year, he was commissioned by Saint-Gaudens to model the horse for his equestrian monument to General John A. Logan (Grant Park, Chicago) and the Proctors left for America, settling a mile from Saint-Gaudens's Cornish, New Hampshire, studio for the purposes of the project. When this figure was completed, Saint-Gaudens asked Proctor to do a similar horse for his General Sherman (Central Park, New York) and the Proctors went to New York where the monument was to be erected.
By now, Proctor's fame was assured. In 1896 he won the Rinehart Scholarship, sharing it with Hermon MacNeil , and this award allowed him to take three more years of study in Paris. Commissions now began coming to Proctor on a regular basis. Among these were projects for Paris's International Exposition of 1900, Buffalo's Pan-American Exposition of 1901, and St. Louis's Louisiana Purchase Exposition of 1904.
Other major commissions for animal figures were also forthcoming. These included a pair of tigers for the entrance to Nassau Hall, Princeton, colossal tigers for the 16th Street Bridge, Washington, D. C., and four large buffaloes for the Q Street Bridge in the same city. In 1918, he modeled Broncho Buster and On the War Trail, two life size equestrian figures, for the city of Denver, Colorado, executed in bronze to replace the original and by now deteriorated plasters which Proctor had conceived for the 1893 Columbian Exposition. Beginning in 1914, the Proctors traveled extensively in the American West, living variously in Oregon, Idaho, and finally California. From 1925 to 1927, the sculptor was an artist in residence at the American Academy in Rome.
Proctor first exhibited his work at the National Academy in 1888 and continued to do so through the 1930's. Typically, the pieces he showed here were animal figures or models for major commissions such as On the Warpath (a.k.a. On the War Trail), shown here in four separate years (1902, cat. no. 394; 1922, cat. no. 102; 1925, cat. no. 335; and 1930, cat. no. 128). He began exhibiting with the Society of American Artists in 1891 and joined that organization in 1895. He was also a member of the National Sculpture Society.
