Solon Borglum (1868 - 1922 )

Solon Hannibal Borglum, creator of the Buffalo and Bear sculptures in Jersey City Heights, was the younger brother of the famous sculptor Gutzon Borglum; the older artist is best known for his monumental presidential portraits at Mount Rushmore, South Dakota. Solon Borglum followed in his brother’s footsteps as a sculptor.

Solon Borglum was born in Ogden, Utah in 1868 and soon afterwards moved to Nebraska, where his father purchased a ranch. This is where he acquired an appreciation for the Native American peoples and for the animals of the plains.

Solon was a working cowboy until 1894. He studied art with his brother, then attended the Cincinnati Art School from 1894 to 1897. In 1900 he opened a studio in New York City, and a few years later moved to “Rocky Ranch” in Silvermine, Connecticut. Borglum exhibited seven sculptures at the famous Armory Show in New York in 1913. Borglum died in 1922, leaving many accomplished works behind.

(Rene’ DeVille)

Bear (from Buffalo and Bears)

Bear (from Buffalo and Bears), c. 1907, Leonard J. Gordon Park, Jersey City. Photograph (c) Douglas Petersen.

Bear (from Buffalo and Bears), c. 1907. Detail of photograph by Douglas Petersen.

Borglum’s Buffalo and Bear sculptures are not typical of art from their era. They show the two animals located in an outdoor environment without a pedestal or anything else to set them aside as art. The sculptures are somewhat generalized and do not follow strict anatomical guidelines for the animals, but conveys a sense of movement. This handling is typical of the style Borglum used in much of his work.

Borglum’s statues are located in Dr. Leonard J. Gordon Park in Jersey City Heights and can be seen when passing the park on Kennedy Boulevard.

References:

Meredith Arms Bzdak, Public Sculpture in New Jersey: Monuments to Collective Identity (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1999).

Tom Armstrong, 200 Years of American Sculpture (Boston: D.R. Godine, 1976, for the Whitney Museum of American Art).

New Jersey City University web site (see link below).

AskArt.com (see link below).