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

A loose pencil study of horses and standing figures, drawn so faintly that the forms seem to surface from the paper as you look.

Visual Elements & Composition

The design is built from thin, scattered graphite contours on a parchment cream ground, with pale ochre staining at the edges. At upper left, a horse's head and neck rise above a seated rider. Lower legs and hooves run through the lower half, and a standing figure in a long coat and cap sits near the centre, with a second coat-and-cap figure to the left. A fragment of a foreleg ending in a hoof sits at lower right. Much of the sheet is left open, so the empty paper does as much work as the lines.

Meaning & Symbolism

The sheet reads as a working record rather than a finished picture. Horses and men appear together, the way a sculptor would note a rider beside his mount or a horseman among a crowd, recording them as they appeared in a single moment. Solon Hannibal Borglum (1868 to 1922) was an American sculptor born in Ogden, Utah, who trained in Paris under the animalier Emmanuel Frémiet. His sculpture of horses grew from preparatory drawings made from life, and this sheet is one of those studies.

Made for the Way a Tee Is Worn

A tee is worn close and moves with the body, so the drawing's faint, scattered lines suit a shirt better than a bold image would. The horse and rider sit near the chest and shoulder, while the lower legs and hooves run toward the hem, letting the sketch unfold as you move. The open paper of the original becomes the open fabric around the print.