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

A pencil portrait of a man seen straight on, his head and upper chest rendered in soft graphite against warm, pale paper.

Visual Elements & Composition

The drawing is built almost entirely from parchment-cream paper and layers of pencil grey, with the darkest accents reserved for the eyes, brows and moustache. The head sits centred in a vertical format, and the background is left unworked so the face holds the eye. Short hair is shaded in loose, directional strokes that give it volume at the crown. The features are modelled through tonal hatching rather than hard outline, and the hatching softens as it moves toward the jaw. A high collar and a folded cravat sit below the chin, indicated with only a few quick lines.

Meaning & Symbolism

The frontal pose and direct gaze give the sheet a formal, self-possessed quality typical of portrait studies made from life. Head studies like this were a standard step in preparing larger figurative works, letting the artist settle proportion, light and expression before committing to a finished image. The drawing comes from Solon Borglum (1868–1922), an American sculptor best known for animal and western subjects, who trained in Paris in the 1880s. This head study belongs to the figurative side of his drawing practice, where modelling form on paper parallels the work of sculpting it in three dimensions.

Wearing the Portrait

A head-and-shoulders study is composed for the eye at close range, and on a tee the face sits at chest height, where it is read as you turn toward someone in conversation. The cravat and high collar echo the neckline of the shirt itself, so the drawing's formal collar reads naturally against the wearer's own. The unworked background of the original becomes the open colour of the garment around it, keeping the focus on the face.