Solon H. Borglum, born Ogden, UT - The Plunge #4 - n.d. - T-Shirt

A figure arches through the air mid-plunge, drawn in sparse, confident pen and ink on cream paper.

Visual Elements & Composition

Cream dominates the design, with the linework in sepia brown setting the figure against the pale ground. The body forms a sweeping arc, one arm and leg reaching down while another limb trails toward the lower right. Loose, repeated contours around the limbs suggest several moments of the same movement layered together. The figure sits in the upper centre of the sheet, and the open space around it gives the composition its quiet balance. The title's numeral, #4, marks this as one study in a series.

Meaning & Symbolism

The plunge is a study in controlled motion, the instant between leaving a height and meeting the water when the body is fully extended. Borglum drew that instant as a sequence, so the eye travels the arc from start to finish and the figure seems to hang weightless. Solon Borglum (1868–1922) was an American sculptor born in Ogden, Utah, who trained in Paris and became known for public monuments and animal and equestrian subjects. Drawings like this one document the study of the human figure behind his sculpture. The original work is held in the Smithsonian American Art Museum collection.

On the Unisex Heavy Cotton Tee

Line drawings like this one reward a closer look, and a tee puts the figure in front of you at chest height, where the arc and the loose contours read clearly as you move. The open cream ground and the restrained sepia lines let the pose carry the design, so the figure reads as a single gesture rather than a busy image. Wearing it, you carry a sketch of a dive that Borglum drew more than a century ago.