Bob Scriver (1914-1999) Montana Sculptor

Scriver as a Montana bronze sculptor captured wildlife, cowboys and the history of the Blackfeet Tribe.  He was born and raised in Browning on the Blackfeet reservation, studied animals and taxidermy, and loved a good rodeo.  At the Montana summer rodeos the crowd would hold their breath as the bronco rider mounted the bull in the shoot, the gate would open, and the rider and bull would gyrate up and down as they both moved out into the arena.  In the spotlight, the rider hangs on to the short rope, as the bull twists and turns, and within seconds the rider is either the winner of the competition, or taken out by the ambulance corp with broken bones.  Scriver understood and embraced his Native American influences, the anatomy of wildlife animals and cowboy country, and used his artistic talents to tell these Montana stories.   

In his bronze, "Cold Maker" - Scriver depicts a winter scout, that is huddled under a buffalo skin or a heavy Hudson Bay blanket.  During the winter, the Blackfeet were hard pressed for meat, so scouts were sent out to find game of any kind.  This bronze is an impressionistic treatment of a Blackfoot scout during a mid-winter blizzard where hunters could be become frozen to death.  

Detail of the "Cold Maker"

A northern Montana blizzard can happen with surprising speed, and Blackfeet were noted observers of nature.  Scouts could easily be caught off guard by a blizzard on the prairies or in the mountains, and still be many miles from protection.  Montana blizzards can provide zero visibility and all the surrounding landmarks can be obliterated.  A good hunter/scout needed a  horse with homing instincts to take him back home to safety.  

Full Frontal View of the "Cold Maker"
The bronze is approx. 12" tall and 7.5" wide. 

We don't know if the "Cold Maker" found a buffalo to slay during his winter rounds.  In the book, "No More Buffalo" we learn from Blackfeet history that swift killer storms forced hunter to take shelter inside the carcass of a freshly slain buffalo.  When the storm let up, they would hack their way out of the frozen carcass and bring the meat home for the hungry camp.  Scriver writes, "Snowbound hunters who did not come home in due time would sometimes be found inside a snow-covered buffalo carcass, frozen to death."  The story and the sculpture remind us of how precarious a Montana winter can be.     

38/100 signed with copyright mark,
Bob Scriver, 1975
From his own foundry 

Scriver's full name was Robert Macfie Scriver, his middle name came from his Scottish mother.  Born in 1914 in Browning, Montana, on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation.  His father came to Montana from Montreal in 1903, and became a government-licensed Indian Trader in 1906.  Early on, Scriver showed a natural talent for molding small animal figures from mud clay.  

After high school, he pursed degrees in music starting at North Dakota State Teachers College (now Dickinson State University), and earned both a Bachelors and Masters from VanderCook College of Music, Chicago. He also did post-graduate work at the University of Washington and Northwestern University.  He became a music teacher in Browning and Malta, Montana and a cornet/trumpet player with a noted traveling jazz band.  During World War II he enlisted in the US Army Air Forces Band, after his discharge, he attempted to return to professional music, but an injury suffered in the service prematurely ended his career as a musician.  

While studying music in Chicago, he found a home at the Chicago Museum of Natural History where he closely inspected the taxidermied wildlife specimens.  He started taking sculpting serious in his forties, surrounding himself with knowledge on the human and animal anatomy.  In 1956, Scriver entered a sculpture contest to sculpt an image of Charles M. Russell for the National Statuary Hall in the US Capitol.  He lost to John Weaver, however he said that loss made him only try harder. 

During his life, he was a member of the Cowboy Artists of America and the National Academy of Western Art.  Both organizations accorded him their highest awards for excellence in sculpture.  He was an elected member of the National Sculpture Society, the International Art Guild, the Salamagundi Club and the Society of Animal Artists. 

After his death in 1999, his widow presented a huge bronze collection to the Montana Historical Society (Helena), and works were divided between the Provincial Museum (Edmonton, Alberta) and the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation (Missoula).  Scriver's work is in the collections of the Buffalo Bill Historical Center (Cody), the C.M. Russell Museum (Great Falls), and Glenbow Museum (Calgary), as well as numerous private collections.  A gift of 97 bronzes were given to the North Dakota Cowboy Hall of Fame (Medora) by collectors Rex and Iola Breneman in 2004, at about that same time, Dickinson State University held a major exhibit of his work.    

There was a statement attributed to Scriver before he died; "All my friends are either cowboys or Indians, I don't know about any other kind of people".  He remained in his hometown of Browning until his death, but his bronzes continue to tell the Montana story.   

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References:

Bob Scriver, No More Buffalo, Lowell Press, Inc., Kansas City, MO, 1982, Page 55.  

Bob Scriver, An Honest Try - An Essay in Bronze, Lowell Press, Kansas City MO, 1975. Page 91.

Patricia Janis Broder, Bronzes of the American West, Harry N. Abrams, Inc., Publishers, NY, 1974. Pages 341-345.

• Twice won the first prize for sculpture at the Cowboy's Artists' annual exhibitions 1970 and 1971.
• Listed in the 1950 edition of Who's Who in Music.
• In 1969, one man exhibition of seventy bronzes at the Whitney Gallery of Western Art, Cody, WY. 

Kirby Lambert, The Montana Traveler, Seeing Bob Scriver's Artwork, Montana, The Magazine of Western History, Montana Historical Society, Helena, MT, Volume 51, No. 2, Summer 2001, Pages 70-73, & Paul Masa Gallery, Kalispell, MT on Page 81, advertising Bob Scriver's Bronzes.  

Bob Scriver, The Blackfeet - Artist of the Northern Plains, Lowell Press, Inc., Kansas City, MO, 1990, Pages 290 & 291.  

• Honorary Doctor of Art Degree.
• Gold and Silver awards from prestigious art groups including:  Cowboy Artist of America and the Academy of Western Art. 
• Memberships in numerous art clubs including: National Sculpture Society, the Salmagundi Club, the Society of Animal Artists, Cowboy Artists of America and the Academy of Western Art. 
• International Art Guild from Monaco.
• Bob Scriver Day, June 2nd - Proclaimed by the Governor of Montana.
• Governor's Award for Excellence in the Arts - Feb. 1990.
• Recognition Plaque from the Citizens of Browning, MT - Citation for contribution to the field of art.
• Acceptance by the Blackfeet Tribe as Holy Man. 
• Numerous examples of his bronzes were given to the Montana Historical Society and the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation.
• Collections: Buffalo Bill Historical Center, C. M. Russell Museum, Eiteljorg Museum of Art, Montana Historical Society, National Center for American Western Art, Rockwell Museum of Western Art and the Glenbow Museum in Calgary, Alberta.         _________________________________________________________________________

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