Solon H. Borglum, born Ogden, UT - Horse's Anatomy - 1916 - T-Shirt

A pencil anatomy sheet by American sculptor Solon Borglum, laying out a horse's skeleton, individual bones and limb studies, and a rear view of the hindquarters on one open page.

Visual Elements & Composition

Parchment cream dominates the sheet, with graphite grey lines carrying almost all of the drawing and a touch of sepia in the paper tone. The largest study shows the skeleton in side profile, with the skull, neck and ribcage outlined and the ribs shaded in fine parallel strokes. Smaller studies of single bones and limb sections sit around it, some seen from the side and others at an angle, while a rear view of the hindquarters anchors the lower centre. Short handwritten notes appear beside a few forms, and the rest of the page is left open.

Meaning & Symbolism

The arrangement treats the animal as a set of parts that together produce a working body. Setting the full skeleton beside isolated joints lets each element be read on its own, and the rear view shows how that bone structure is covered in the living animal. Borglum (1868–1922), born in Ogden, Utah, was known for bronze animal and Western subjects, and he worked for many years in Paris. Studies like this were the groundwork for his sculpture: the set of the legs and the shape of the ribcage determined how a horse would stand, move and carry weight in a finished model.

Bring the Study Home

A sheet built from separate studies suits a shirt, where the front of the body becomes the page. The drawing's clean graphite lines and open layout read clearly across the chest, and the skeleton's profile runs with the natural line of a body wearing it.