19 Facts About Solon Borglum

Solon Hannibal de la Mothe Borglum was an American sculptor.

Solon Borglum is most noted for his depiction of frontier life, and especially his experience with cowboys and native Americans.

Solon's Danish immigrant father James Borglum was a Mormon polygamist, being married to two sisters, Ida and Christina Mikkelsen.

Solon Borglum grew up in Fremont, Nebraska and Omaha and spent his early years as a rancher in western Nebraska.

Solon Borglum's father was a physician but had worked as a wood-carver, which almost certainly influenced Solon Borglum's older brother, Gutzon, to pursue a career as an artist.

Solon Borglum showed a talent for drawing horses, and his careful studies of their movements prompted Gutzon to encourage Solon to pursue art as a profession.

In 1893 Solon went to Omaha to study with J Laurie Wallace, a former pupil of Thomas Eakins.

Solon Borglum had little success and in November 1895 he traveled to Cincinnati, Ohio, where he entered the Cincinnati Art Academy.

Solon Borglum's first effort was a sculpture of a group of horses based on observations and drawings he had made at the US Mail stables in Cincinnati.

Solon Borglum received a silver medal at the Exposition Universelle and another at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, NY.

In 1906, Solon Borglum moved to the Silvermine neighborhood of New Canaan, Connecticut, where he helped found the "Knockers Club" of artists.

In 1911, Solon Borglum was elected into the National Academy of Design as an Associate member.

Solon Borglum ran the school and gave many lectures on art until his death after an appendectomy complicated by his war wounds in January 1922.

Solon Borglum's legacy was carried on by his wife Emma until her death in 1934, at which point his daughter Monica and her husband, A Mervyn Davies, oversaw the exhibition of his artwork.

Solon Borglum's papers are held at the Archives of American Art, and the Library of Congress.

Solon Borglum created several animal groups while in Paris, including Lassoing Wild Horses and The Stampede of Wild Horses, which were shown at the Paris Salon in 1898 and 1899, respectively.

Solon Borglum had a one-man show of thirty-two small sculptures at the Keppel Gallery, New York.

In 1904 Solon Borglum won the gold medal at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition held in St Louis.

Solon Borglum sculpted a larger than life bronze equestrian statue for the Bucky O'Neill Monument, Rough Rider at the Yavapai County Court House Plaza in Prescott, Arizona.