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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- 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
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.
- Exhibitions
1998 The Other Nineteenth Century Portland Art Museum
2015 Paradise: Fallen Fruit Portland Art Museum