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Indian on Horseback


Alexander Phimister Proctor, Indian on Horseback, 1898, bronze, Gift of Mrs. A.L. Mills, Mrs. T.H. Bartlett, Henrietta E. Failing, Mary Forbush Failing, Mrs. H.C. Cabell, Charles Francis Adams, John C. Ainsworth, William D. Cartwright, and T.B. Wilcox, © Estate of Alexander Phimister Proctor, 11.2

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Details
Title

Indian on Horseback

Artist

Alexander Phimister Proctor (American, born Canada, 1862-1950)

Date

1898

Medium

bronze

Dimensions (H x W x D)

39 1/4 in x 32 in x 13 in

Inscriptions & Markings

location inscription: PARIS, carved, on sculpture's right side, on side of integral base, near bottom Description: written in script

inscription: 1898 / GOLD MEDAL / PARIS EXPOSITION / 1900, carved, on sculpture's lower right side, on side of integral base Description: block letters

signature: AP HIMISTER PROCTOR, carved, on sculpture's lower right side, on upper surface of integral base, under horse's right front foot Description: block letters

copyright mark: COPY RT 1899, carved, on sculpture's lower left side, on upper surface of integral base, near horse's left hind foot Description: block letters

inscription: copy rt 1899, on base, proper left back

inscription: Gold Medal Paris Exposition 1900, on base, proper right front

signature; date: A. Phimister Proctor 1898, on base, proper right front

Collection Area

Modern and Contemporary Art; American Art

Category

Sculpture

Object Type

sculpture

Culture

American

Credit Line

Gift of Mrs. A.L. Mills, Mrs. T.H. Bartlett, Henrietta E. Failing, Mary Forbush Failing, Mrs. H.C. Cabell, Charles Francis Adams, John C. Ainsworth, William D. Cartwright, and T.B. Wilcox

Accession Number

11.2

Copyright

© Estate of Alexander Phimister Proctor

Terms

bronzes

Gifts from the Failing Family

horse

sculpture

Description

Alexander Phimister Proctor's work and life embody the romance of the American frontier. Growing up in Colorado, Proctor spent much of his time camping, hunting, and sketching the big game he pursued. He later refined his talent with study in New York and in Paris, where he gained fame as an animalier, a sculptor of animals, in the tradition of such artists as Antoine-Louis Barye (French, 1796-1875).

Indian on Horseback was made at a time when American artists were memorializing the vanishing frontier and its inhabitants in works that were often sentimental and inaccurate. Although Proctor's rendering is also highly idealized, he does present a strong and dignified personification as a monument to this romanticized era of American history. The sculpture won Proctor a gold medal at the 1900 Paris Exposition and was the first original sculpture to enter the Portland Art Museum’s permanent collection.

History
Exhibitions

1998 The Other Nineteenth Century Portland Art Museum

2015 Paradise: Fallen Fruit Portland Art Museum

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