Frank Polk
(1908-2000)
Frank Polk was born in Louisville, Kentucky in 1908, but moved to Phoenix, Arizona in 1911. His first job, at age sixteen, was in the rodeo working with his trained burro. He later landed his first cowboy job with the Yolo Ranch at Camp Wood. His 1978 autobiography, F-F-F-Frank Polk: An Uncommonly Frank Autobiography, tells of his adventures as a cowboy.
Polk’s experiences, as a ranch hand, rodeo cowboy, and dude wrangler gave him enough material to tell authentic stories of the cowboy in America in his basswood and bronze sculptures.
In the early twentieth century there were no cameras, so Polk began to carve what he saw. He wanted to communicate what cowboy life was all about. Polk eventually opened a woodcarving store in Reno, Nevada. He was creating wood sculptures of Western scenes and models of characters for slot machines when George Phippen got him interested in the idea of casting figures in bronze. “Working in wood made it difficult to achieve the action and looseness I wanted,” Polk said, “but after I started working in wax, I found I could obtain these qualities with much more freedom.”
In 1967, Joe Beeler asked him to join the Cowboy Artists of America; “the best thing that ever happened to my career as an artist,” Polk later said. In 1972, he and his wife, Mary, settled in Mayer, Arizona. He bought the Old Mayer State Bank, which Polk had wanted to own ever since he was a boy, and turned it into his studio.
Polk believed that to be an artist is to follow a calling. “I believe that everyone has a talent for something, but many do not find it. What sets an artist apart and makes him different from the other members of society is his creative nature,” he said. “An artist’s creativeness comes from within. It is not something that can be learned in books, although lessons from another artist more mature in his work can help. An artist is born with a gift from the higher-up and a constant inner contact with his maker.”
Source: The Cowboy Artists of America
A Long Rope and A Telescope
Artist: Frank Polk, CA (1908-2000)
Description: Bronze (1975) | Dimensions: 17”h x 16”w x 14”d; Edition 12 of 35
Frank Polk had a natural ability to capture horses and men in three dimensional formats. His sculptures are realistic and always authentic in terms of wardrobe and gear. This scene of a cowboy reclining against a large rock and peering through a telescope is quintessential of Polk’s style as well as his sculpting talents. The standing horse captures perfectly the image of a working cow pony. There is no doubt Polk tapped into a lifetime of colorful experiences he ventured into his artistic interests.
Following his Kentucky birth in 1908, the Polk family moved to the Arizona Territory in 1911, a year prior to Arizona being granted statehood. He began rodeo performing with his trained burro at the tender age of ten and continued for twenty years. At fifteen, he also took up cowboying “when there was no fencing and the cattle were wild”. At one time he had his own singing cowboy radio show, worked in western films as a stunt man, was a dude wrangler and voted best all-around cowboy in 1946.
With some encouragement by friends, Frank was able to advance his whittling hobby to carving in basswood. He earnestly studied anatomy and drew upon his expertise to portray that which he knew best, life as a cowboy. He eventually began the transition from wood to wax so that his pieces could be bronze cast. Collectors were enamored by his authenticity, personality and in his work. In 1967 he was invited by his friend and founding member, Joe Beeler, to join the Cowboy Artists of America.
On Christmas Eve in 1997, Laura Flood interviewed Frank Polk in his home, the former Mayer (AZ) Bank Building. The article appeared in the Prescott Valley Tribune in January of 1998. In it she wrote, “Polk rode broncs, drank bootleg whiskey and spent time in the county jail for riding his horse into Prescott’s historic Palace Bar. He wrangled dudes up and down the Grand Canyon. He made a lot of money and spent more of it buying whiskey.” Frank regaled her with colorful stories throughout the evening and even a somber one. And though Frank passed in 2000, he left behind “F-F-F-Frank Polk: An Uncommonly Frank Autobiography,” fittingly named after his stuttering speech. A delightful read filled with numerous “Frankisms”, candor, wit and some good ole cowboy charm.
Novello Viejo
Artist: Frank Polk, CA (1908-2000)
Description: Bronze (1975) | Dimensions: 13”h x 20”w x 10”d; Edition #17 of 35
Having spent most of his life around ranches and cattle, Frank Polk was well acquainted with livestock, such as this majestic longhorn. He has given the piece a rich, dark patina which accentuates its quality.
