Solon H. Borglum, born Ogden, UT - Horses and Turkeys - n.d. - T-Shirt

A loose pencil study from Solon Borglum's hand, this sheet gathers horses in several poses alongside turkeys and fowl, all sketched quickly on cream paper.

Visual Elements & Composition

The page is built from faint graphite lines on parchment cream, with the cream dominating nearly the whole sheet. Horses are drawn in outline and light hatching at different scales across the upper and middle areas. A horse head sits at the lower left, turned toward the viewer, with a larger body and legs set out beside it. In the lower half, birds with fan-shaped tails and rounded bodies cluster together, and one perches on a low rail at lower right. A small yellowish stain near the upper right edge and a faint inscription in the lower right corner mark the page as a working sheet.

Meaning & Symbolism

Solon Hannibal Borglum (1868 to 1922) was an American sculptor born in Ogden, Utah. He trained in Paris under the animalier Emmanuel Frémiet and is best known for his sculpture of horses. A sheet like this reflects the habit of observation behind that work: it is a store of forms rather than a finished composition, with the artist moving between subjects to record the shapes of tails, heads and bodies. The solid, weighty horses set against the lighter, quick birds give the page its variety, and the pairing suggests animals seen together in a farmyard or rural setting.

On the Unisex Heavy Cotton Tee

A sketch sheet like this rewards a close look, and a tee is worn close to the body, so the drawing sits at chest height where the eye settles on each figure. The horses and birds move across the front in the same loose scatter the artist laid down, letting the wearer carry a page of studies rather than a single framed image.