Solon H. Borglum, born Ogden, UT - Study of Anatomy, #5 - 1895 - T-Shirt

This pen and ink study by sculptor Solon Borglum shows four male legs and feet drawn side by side, each one a different view of the same anatomical model, dated 1895.

Visual Elements & Composition

The sheet is a horizontal rectangle of pale cream paper, toned slightly at the edges, with a fold line running down the centre. Four bare legs, each cut off at the upper thigh and resting on its foot, fill the width of the sheet. Most of the drawing is built from fine, closely spaced hatching in ink black and grey. The hatching is densest along the shin and the underside of the foot and lighter across the knee and thigh, so the muscle and bone beneath the skin do most of the work. A small monogram sits near the lower centre.

Meaning & Symbolism

Each leg is drawn from a slightly different angle, so the sequence reads as a working study rather than a finished picture. Borglum is tracing how the calf muscles, the tendons at the ankle and the arch of the foot shift as the position turns. Figure sculptors of the period relied on studies like this, because a bronze could only convey weight and motion if its maker understood the structure underneath. The close attention to the foot and its arch points to a concern with how a body bears its load, the same concern that carried into the animal and equestrian work for which Borglum became known. He was born in Ogden, Utah in 1868, trained as a sculptor in Paris, and was the brother of Gutzon Borglum.

Made for the Wearer of Careful Detail

A study of this kind rewards a close look, and a tee is the right surface for it: the drawing sits on the chest where you can read the hatching line by line, and the four repeated legs show the same figure turning through each view. The composition is quiet and linear, so it works as a simple front-facing print that lets the drawn detail carry the piece. Wear it as you would a sketchbook page, with the study itself doing the talking.