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| PROCTOR'S COWBOY - Between Choral Hall and the
Transportation Building, on the borders of the western lagoon, stood
two groups of statuary that comported in size with the horses and
bulls of French and Potter on the Grand Basin. "The Cowboy" is seen
portrayed in our engraving. The companion-piece - an Indian on horse
- may be partly discerned beyond "The Cowboy." A writer in the
Chicago Record said: "It seems at first curious that a sculptor so
familiar with animals should have made such bad horses, but the truth
about this is that these statues were made in great haste, and the
sculptor himself did not have time to make the horses, but left this
work to his assistants almost entirely. The figures, on the
contrary, are his own. The figure of the Cowboy, though spirited, is
not so successful as the Indian. On the whole, these groups are
exceedingly interesting. Such work marks Mr. Proctor as one of the
rising sculptors of the day - one who is capable of doing very great
work indeed." It is said that both Mr. Kemeys and Mr. Proctor have
come to their exact knowledge of the shape of wild American animals
by following the hunter's life in order to learn their art. These
heroic pieces were not made for critical approach and study, as in
the photograph. They were offered for the delectation of the distant
passers in the lagoon, and in that regard served a beautiful and
ingenious purpose. |
