One in a Thousand

Details

SOLON HANNIBAL BORGLUM (1868-1922)
One in a Thousand
inscribed 'Solon H Borglum/©/April/1906' (on the base)—inscribed with foundry mark 'GORHAM CO. FOUNDERS.' (along the base)
bronze with reddish brown patina
46 in. (116.8 cm.) high
Modeled in 1902.

Provenance

Grand Central Art Galleries, Inc., New York.
George F. Harding, Jr., Chicago, Illinois, acquired from the above, 1924.
George F. Harding Museum, Chicago, Illinois, by bequest from the above, 1939.
Acquired by the present owner from the above, 1984.

Literature

"Animals in Sculpture," International Studio, December 1912, p. 30, another example illustrated.
G. Borglum, "Solon H. Borglum," The American Magazine of Art, vol. XIII, no. 1, January 1922, p. 473, another example illustrated.
H.L. Earle, Biographical Sketches of American Artists, Lansing, Michigan, 1924, p. 53.
D. Branch, "The American Cowboy: Rough Rider, Adventurer, Romantic Figure of the Cattle Country," The Mentor, vol. XV, no. 293, July 1927, p. 7, another example illustrated.
R.E. Jackman, American Arts, Chicago, Illinois, 1928, p. 375, pl. CLXXXIII, another example illustrated.
A.M. Davies, Solon H. Borglum: 'A Man Who Stands Alone', Chester, Connecticut, 1974, pp. 88-89, 274, another example illustrated.
H. McCracken, et al., The West of Buffalo Bill: Frontier Art, Indian Crafts, Memorabilia from the Buffalo Bill Historical Center, New York, 1974, n.p., another example illustrated.
D. Krakel, Adventures in Western Art, Kansas City, Missouri, 1977, p. 321, another example illustrated on the cover.
H.R. Lamar, ed., The Reader's Encyclopedia of the American West, New York, 1977, p. 115.
P. Feés, S.E. Boehme, Frontier America: Art and Treasures of the Old West from the Buffalo Bill Historical Center, New York, 1988, p. 73, another example illustrated (as One in a Thousand (The Bronco Buster)).
R. Stewart, Charles M. Russell, Sculptor, New York, 1994, p. 56, fig. 2-8, another example illustrated (as One in a Thousand (The Bronco Buster)).
D. Dary, et al., A Western Legacy: The National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, Norman, Oklahoma, 2005, p. 47, pl. 14, another example illustrated.
T. Tolles, T.B. Smith, The American West in Bronze, exhibition catalogue, New York, 2013, pp. 104, 106, fig. 133, another example illustrated (as One in One Thousand).

Conditions of sale

Brought to you by

Quincie Dixon Associate Specialist, Head of Sale

qdixon@christies.com +1 212 636 2141

Lot Essay

Suspended in dramatic motion, Solon Borglum's One in a Thousand celebrates the drama and action of the American West. A cowboy in his own right, Borglum, the son of Danish immigrants, settled with his family in Nebraska, where he worked on the family's ranch. After studying under his brother Gutzon (the sculptor of Mount Rushmore), Borglum trained at the Cincinnati Art Institute, Ohio, and later in France. Upon his return to the United States in 1899, the artist dedicated himself to sculpting, resulting in numerous masterworks of Western subjects, the present example among his most eminent. Another example of the present work is in the collection of the Buffalo Bill Center of the West, Cody, Wyoming.

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