Bronze Inside and Out: A Biographical Memoir of Bob Scriver (Legacies Shared) (Legacies Shared, 25) (Volume 25)

This is a literary biography of sculptor Bob Scriver, written by his wife, Mary Strachan Scriver. Bob Scriver is best known for his work in bronze and for his pivotal role in the rise of 'cowboy art'. Living and working on the Montana Blackfoot Reservation, Scriver created a bronze foundry, a museum, and a studio - an atelier based on classical methods, but with local Blackfoot artisans. His importance in the still-developing genre of 'western art' cannot be overstated.Mary Strachan Scriver lived and worked with Bob Scriver for over a decade and was instrumental in his rise to international acclaim. Working alongside her husband, she became intimately familiar with the man, his work, and his process. Her frank and uncensored narration includes details that give the reader a unique picture of Scriver both as man and as artist. Mary Strachan Scriver also provides a fascinating look into the practice of bronze casting, cleverly structuring the story of Bob Scriver's life according to the steps in this complicated and temperamental process. Title Page......Page 4 Bibliographic Information......Page 5 Dedication......Page 6 Table of Contents......Page 8 Foreword......Page 16 Acknowledgments......Page 18 PART ONE: Prelude......Page 20 1. Why we learned to cast bronze and what it was like......Page 22 2. How I got to the Blackfeet Reservation and what it was like Browning, Montana, 1961 ......Page 25 3. History of the Blackfeet and how artists joined them High northern prairie, 1600s forward ......Page 27 4. “Indian Days” Browning, Montana, in the Sixties ......Page 29 5. The roots of American equestrian bronzes Washington, D.C., 1780s to the 1800s......Page 32 1. The importance of story: the quick-draw guy Browning, 1968 ......Page 38 2. Bob’s genealogical roots and how his parents got to Browning The Palatine to England to Quebec to Montana, 1600s to early 1900s ......Page 39 3. Bob’s childhood Browning, World War I and after ......Page 45 4. The white community and how Bob acquired an Indian “mother” Milk River Ridge, the Twenties ......Page 46 5. Artists on the scene Glacier Park, the Twenties......Page 51 6. Earl Heikka, “crazy artist feller” Great Falls, Twenties and Thirties......Page 56 1. First career: leading prize-winning high school bands 1934–1950......Page 60 2. Second career: successful taxidermist Browning, 1950–1964......Page 62 3. The Scriver Museum of Montana Wildlife Browning, 1953–1999......Page 67 4. The earliest sculptures and the C.M. Russell Contest Browning, the Fifties......Page 76 5. Beginning to sell Browning, late Fifties......Page 81 1. About the material and what it demands Greenwich Village, the Forties......Page 86 2. Malvina Hoffman’s plastilene Greenwich Village, the Forties......Page 90 3. Plastilene sculptures shelved Browning, 1962......Page 92 4. The miniature wildlife dioramas: a team effort Browning, Spring 1962......Page 93 5. Bob nearly goes blind Browning, Summer 1962......Page 97 6. Evelyn Cole Chinook, Montana, 1967......Page 104 7. My first hunting trips The Rocky Mountain front, Fall 1962......Page 105 1. About armatures......Page 108 2. The armature of Bob’s inner world Browning, the Sixties......Page 110 3. The Buffalo Roundup. We both ride Moiese, 1963......Page 115 4. Organic armatures: skeletons Bynum, Sun River, Moiese, Starr School, mid-Sixties......Page 121 5. Broken ribcage Browning, 1965......Page 126 1. Waste molds, made for destruction......Page 128 2. Dick Flood The northern prairie, Fifties and Sixties......Page 132 3. Ace Powell Hungry Horse and Browning, 1928 to 1976......Page 134 4. John Clarke East Glacier, 1881–1970......Page 137 5. The last full-mount: a moose Browning, 1968......Page 138 6. Eegie Browning, 1962–1975......Page 140 7. Electric cowboys Cut Bank Creek, 1965......Page 145 8. Life in Browning The Sixties......Page 146 9. Drifters Browning, mid-Sixties......Page 148 10. Downhill Hudson’s Bay Divide, late Sixties......Page 149 1. About plaster originals: the key......Page 152 2. George Gray Browning, 1968......Page 153 3. American Artist and Paul Juley Browning, 1964......Page 156 4. True magazine Browning, 1965......Page 158 5. New York Shows Manhattan, 1963......Page 159 6. Glenbow Foundation Calgary, 1967......Page 160 7. Christmas Browning, 1964......Page 164 8. Hunting in the snow East front of the Rockies, 1968......Page 165 1. About flexible molds Browning, Fifties and forward......Page 168 2. The Big Flood Blackfeet Reservation, 1964......Page 171 3. Animals drive a wedge......Page 173 4. Bob the conservative, Mary the activist Browning, 1969......Page 178 5. Keith Seele, James Willard Schultz, Lone Wolf and Paul Dyck The Reservation, 1966......Page 179 6. Overwork and blow-ups Browning, 1969......Page 181 7. Into the Wind, Bucky, and breaking points The reservation, late Sixties......Page 183 8. Hunting again, Sweetgrass Hills......Page 189 1. About mother molds......Page 192 2. Ellison Westgarth Macfie Scriver......Page 193 3. Alice the high school kid Browning and Malta 1937–1943......Page 196 4. Jeanette the firebrand Edmonton and Browning, 1946–1959......Page 198 5. Arlene the ideal Browning, 1959–1962......Page 205 6. Mary the English teacher Browning, 1966–1970......Page 206 7. Lorraine the widow Browning and Vancouver Island, 1972–2002......Page 210 1. Making a wax duplicate......Page 214 2. Portrait of a polo player Santa Rosa, Anacortes, 1967......Page 217 3. Bob’s daughter dies Anacortes, 1967 and 1968......Page 221 4. Maurice poses for Jesus Browning, 1967 and 1968......Page 226 5. Lost in grizzly country St. Mary’s, 1969......Page 233 PART TWO: Crescendo......Page 236 1. Old-fashioned plaster investment......Page 238 2. To Tell the Truth! and Malvina Hoffman New York City, 1965......Page 241 3. A Moose hunt Swan Hills, Alberta 1969......Page 246 1. Casting bronze: a review Browning, Montana, 1962–1999......Page 248 2. One hundred bronzes Browning and Cody, 1969......Page 251 3. Harry Jackson Cody and Browning, 1969......Page 261 4. A jubilant hunting trip East Front of the Rockies, 1969......Page 263 1. Moment of truth......Page 264 2. The Western art boom......Page 266 3. C.M. Russell Museum Benefit Auction Great Falls, Montana, 1970 to the present......Page 267 4. Dean Krakel, cowboys and Indians Oklahoma City, 1965 to the end......Page 268 5. Bill Linderman Denver and Browning, 1967–1970......Page 271 6. The National Rodeo Finals Oklahoma City, 1970......Page 279 7. Asger Mikkelson Browning, 1970–1975......Page 282 8. Meltdown of a marriage......Page 283 PART THREE: Diminuendo......Page 290 1. How to “chase” a bronze......Page 292 2. Blackfeet religious ceremonies Browning, 1963 to 1999......Page 294 3. Blackfeet ceremonial objects......Page 296 5. Cree healing ceremony, Blackfeet bundle opening Browning, 1967 to 1999......Page 299 6. The Thunder Pipe Bundle transfer Browning, 1969......Page 305 7. Counting coup Browning and Edmonton, 1976–1990......Page 307 8. The million-dollar artifact collection Browning and Edmonton, 1990 to present......Page 308 9. The Badger Lodge Browning and Two Medicine, 1971......Page 312 1. Welding bronze Browning, 1963 forward......Page 318 2. Losing family members 1976 forward......Page 319 3. The Prince of Peace 1982 forward......Page 321 4. Trying to rekindle the flame Browning, 1985 forward......Page 326 1. The journey slows Fort Benton and Great Falls, 1974 forward......Page 330 2. Lewis and Clark begin Fort Benton, 1974 forward......Page 331 3. Distinguished Achievement Great Falls, 1990......Page 336 4. Long quiet days in the shop Browning, 1988 forward......Page 338 5. Facing death Browning, late Nineties......Page 340 6. Death on Bob’s terms Browning, 1999......Page 342 7. “The Man in Buckskin” Valier, 2002......Page 345 1. How patinas are formed......Page 348 2. What is a “great artist?”......Page 350 3. The artist as customer......Page 352 4. The Flatiron Ranch Browning, 1980......Page 353 5. The last visit and goodbye Browning, 1998......Page 355 6. Four sculptors, four destinies Browning, 1929......Page 358 Bibliography......Page 382 Legacies Shared Series......Page 392 "More than any other book that I can think of, Bronze Inside and Out puts a human face on Western art - indeed, all art. It invites us to ponder the very nature of the creative process."--The foreword by Brian W. Dippie, University of Victoria Bronze Inside and Out: A Biographical Memoir of Bob Scriver is a literary biography of sculptor Bob Scriver, written by his wife, Mary Strachan Scriver. Bob Scriver is best known for his work in bronze and for his pivotal role in the rise of "cowboy art." Living and working on the Montana Blackfeet Reservation, Scriver created a bronze foundry, a museum, and a studio - an atelier based on classical methods, but with local Blackfeet artisans. His importance in the still-developing genre of "western art" cannot be overstated. Mary Strachan Scriver lived and worked with Bob Scriver for over a decade and was instrumental in his rise to international acclaim. Working alongside her husband, she became intimately familiar with the man, his work, and his process. Her frank, uncensored, and highly entertaining biography reveals details that give the reader a unique picture of Scriver both as man and as artist. Bronze Inside and Out also provides a fascinating look into the practice of bronze casting, cleverly structuring the story of Bob Scriver's life according to the steps in this complicated and temperamental process More than any other book that I can think of, Bronze Inside and Out puts a human face on Western art - indeed, all art. It invites us to ponder the very nature of the creative process.From the foreword by Brian W. Dippie, University of Victoria Bronze Inside and Out is a literary biography of sculptor Bob Scriver, written by his wife, Mary Strachan Scriver. Bob Scriver is best known for his work in bronze and for his pivotal role in the rise of'cowboy art.'Living and working on the Montana Blackfeet Reservation, Scriver created a bronze foundry, a museum, and a studio - an atelier based on classical methods, but with local Blackfeet artisans. His importance in the still-developing genre of'western art'cannot be overstated. Mary Strachan Scriver lived and worked with Boba Scriver for over a decade and was instrumental in his rise to international acclaim. Working alongside her husband, she became intimately familiar with the man, his work, and his process. Her frank, uncensored, and highly entertaining biography reveals details that give the reader a unique picture of Scriver both as man and as artist. Bronze Inside and Out also provides a fascinating look into the practice of bronze casting, cleverly structuring the story of Bob Scriver's life according to the steps in this complicated and temperamental process. "Bronze Inside and Out is a literary biography of sculptor Bob Scriver, written by his wife, Mary Strachan Scriver. Bob Scriver is best known for his work in bronze and for his pivotal role in the rise of "cowboy art." Living and working on the Montana Blackfeet Reservation, Scriver created a bronze foundry, a museum, and a studio - an atelier based on classical methods, but with local Blackfeet artisans. His importance in the still-developing genre of "Western Art" cannot be overstated."--Jacket