Gutzon Borglum

Happy Birthday Gutzon Borglum!! This artist born in the US in 1867 was responsible for sculpting the monumental Mt. Rushmore. On a personal note, Borglum was born to a polygamist family and kept the multiple wives tradition. He trained in Paris and there met Auguste Rodin (sculptor of The Thinker). He was fascinated with monumental scale and first sculpted a 6 foot head of Abraham Lincoln, began but never finished a huge relief frieze in Georgia and after other smaller creations, finally moved on to the Rushmore project in 1927. He and his son worked off and on, (of course a team of miners, rock climbers and sculptors assisted)on the mountain in South Dakota until 1941, when Borglum died and never realized his dream of a Hall of Records to be built below. It was later completed in 1998 under the direction of his family. The project, depicting the first 150 years of US history, presents the heads of Washington, Lincoln, Jefferson and Roosevelt, with the theme of Manifest Destiny. It covers 1278.45 acres and cost the US $989,992.32. A small cube of granite was left in each eye, creating a "glint". The figures were originally planned to be carved head to waist, but this dream had to be altered due to budgetary constraints.