Borglum

Borglum, Gutzon (John Gutzon de la Mothe Borglum), 1867-1941, American sculptor, b. Idaho; son of a Danish immigrant physician and rancher. He studied at the San Francisco Art Academy and in Paris at Julian's academy and the École des Beaux-Arts. His first commission after his return to New York in 1901 was the statue of Lincoln that stands in the rotunda of the Capitol, Washington, D.C. Other works of his earlier period include another figure of Lincoln (Newark), a statue of Henry Ward Beecher (Brooklyn), Mares of Diomedes (Metropolitan Mus.), and figures of the apostles created for the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, New York City.

Borglum is most famous, however, for his monumental works. He designed the first of these, a Confederate memorial on Stone Mt., Ga., and began carving it in 1916. The work was interrupted by World War I but was resumed in 1924. As the result of an acrimonious controversy with the Stone Mountain Memorial Association, he ceased working and destroyed his models. Moving to South Dakota, Borglum began work on the gigantic Mount Rushmore National Memorial in 1927. One of the largest sculptural projects in existence, the memorial was also a great engineering feat. Borglum had nearly finished the 60-ft (18.3-m) heads of the four presidents (Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt) when he died. Plans for an even more ambitious composition were abandoned and the work was finished (1941) by his son Lincoln. Borglum was a man of tremendous vitality and decided opinions that led him into frequent confrontations. His brother Solon Hannibal Borglum, 1868-1922, was also a sculptor, noted especially for his portrayal of horses, cattle, Native Americans, and cowboys.

(born March 25, 1867, St. Charles, Idaho, U.S.—died March 6, 1941, Chicago, Ill.) U.S. sculptor. Born to Danish immigrant parents, he studied art in Paris. In 1901 he opened a studio in New York City. His bronze group The Mares of Diomedes was the first U.S. sculpture purchased by the Metropolitan Museum of Art. He carved the head of Abraham Lincoln in the U.S. Capitol rotunda. In 1916 he was commissioned to sculpt a memorial to the Confederacy on Stone Mountain, Ga., but disputes with his patrons caused him to abandon the project in 1924; it was completed by others. His most notable project was the Mount Rushmore National Memorial (completed 1941).

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Borglum can refer to:

• Børglum, a Danish village in Northern Jutland, formerly the location of a Catholic bishopric.
• either of two sculptor-brothers:
• Gutzon Borglum, sculptor of Mount Rushmore
• Solon Borglum
• A few families also exist of this name.