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

A pale pencil study of a reclining nude figure, arms lifted and legs trailing across a sheet of cream paper, drawn in open, sketched line.

Visual Elements & Composition

The drawing is built from pale graphite grey and a few darker pencil accents over warm cream paper, which fills most of the frame. The figure stretches diagonally across the lower half of the sheet. Its head turns upward and to the left, one arm reaches high at the left edge, and the other bends in front of the chest. The legs trail out to the right, the far leg drawn as one long, tapering line. Contours are light and broken, with only a little shading around the torso and hip, and the upper right of the sheet is left empty. The image carries no lettering or numerals.

Meaning & Symbolism

The title Swimming Nude places the figure in water, its arms reaching and its legs extended in a stroke or float. Artists have long used the bathing or swimming body to study the human form in fluid, unposed attitudes, and figures like this were valued for their rhythm and balance. Those qualities had to hold together in the round, which is why a sculptor's drawing practice mattered. The sheet comes from Solon Hannibal Borglum (1868-1922), born in Ogden, Utah, an American sculptor known for animal and figurative work, including bronzes of horses and frontier subjects. He was the brother of Gutzon Borglum, later known for Mount Rushmore.

Made for the Tee

A reclining figure suits the broad, open front of a tee, where the raised arm and trailing legs can run across the chest and off toward the hem. The empty upper right of the sheet gives the composition room to breathe on the shirt, and the light, interrupted line reads well at a distance and up close alike. Wearing it, the figure moves with you, which is the fluid quality the original study was after.