The Whitney Western Art Museum houses studio collections of four western American artists: Frederic Remington, W.H.D. Koerner, Joseph Henry Sharp, and Alexander Phimister Proctor. Each of these collections are individually significant, and together, they form the cornerstones of the Whitney’s broad and deep holdings of artwork. Each has the capacity to inspire and astound causal visitors and scholars alike. As a national leader in the study and collection of western American art, the Whitney is a fitting home for these special and focused collections.
Alexander Phimister Proctor was a prolific artist and is best known for his interpretations of western and wildlife subjects as well as his public monuments. More than a decade ago, the artist’s descendants began making monumental gifts of the sculptor’s work and archives to the Center of the West. Forming a partnership with the Proctor family and the Proctor Foundation, the Center of the West has welcomed into its collection a vast number of objects that were used or created by Proctor, one of America’s most significant sculptors. A cross-section of these treasures is displayed within the Whitney, in the Proctor Studio, a space which evokes a turn-of-the-century bronze foundry. The Proctor Studio brings its namesake to life for visitors of all ages and provides insights into his private world. Wandering through the Studio, visitors might appreciate the diversity of Proctor’s output and the artistic and engineering feats required of the artist as he worked to depict the American West in bronze.
