Solon H. Borglum, born Ogden, UT - Anatomy - n.d. - T-Shirt

This undated graphite study lays out a human rib cage and spine as a numbered teaching diagram, each bone marked in sequence so its structure can be read part by part.

Visual Elements & Composition

The drawing is built from cream paper, graphite grey and light pencil grey, with a faint ochre stain warming the margins. The ribs curve as stacked parallel bands that narrow toward the top of the cage, and the vertebral column runs down the right side, its segments drawn shorter and more compact. Heavier shading sits in the gaps between the ribs and along the lower edge of the thorax, while the line stays fine and mostly even. Handwritten numerals from 1 to 10 run along the ribs and spine, giving the whole sheet a precise, clinical rhythm.

Meaning & Symbolism

The numbering turns the figure into an instructional object. Identifying each rib and vertebra in order shows how the bones fit together and how the torso is held and bends. Anatomical drawings like this were central to the training of sculptors, who needed to understand how the skeleton supports the musculature before modelling a convincing body in clay or stone. This study belongs to the work of Solon Borglum, born in 1868 in Ogden, Utah. He studied in Paris, worked in New York, became known for animal and Western frontier sculpture, and was the brother of the sculptor Gutzon Borglum.

Reading the Shirt Front

A tee carries a flat drawing across the chest, so the rib cage reads at a glance while the numerals reward a closer look. The numbered sequence stays legible at conversation distance, and the composition's vertical rhythm of ribs and spine runs naturally with the shape of the torso it covers. Wear it the way the sculptor studied the body: one part at a time, with the structure in plain view.