Model for War Memorial

Object NameSculpture

Artist / Maker Christian Petersen (Danish - American, 1885 - 1961)

DatePossibly 1950s

MediumNon-hardening clay (plasticine) on wood base.

DimensionsWooden Base: 11 x 4 3/8 x 2 7/8 in. (27.9 x 11.1 x 7.3 cm)

ClassificationsSculpture

Credit LineGift of Marie Baird. In the Christian Petersen Art Collection, Christian Petersen Art Museum, University Museums, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa.

Object numberUM2008.546ab

Status

Not on view

Collections

Label TextAfter World War II, Christian Petersen was obsessed with the idea of a war memorial, preferably one installed on the Iowa State campus. His studio was full of sketches and models of proposals, none of which were glorified war or mentioned victory. All emphasized the cost of war in death and the grief it left behind. The personification of these ideas was almost always as female figure, plainly dressed in long skirts and in an attitude of mourning, as this figure is. We know that he intended these women as war memorials because of their context in many drawings and through a photograph in the Ames Tribune of a model, similar to this one that he proposed as a veteran’s memorial in a cemetery. It was to carry an inscription that he had used on other war memorials: “Let the Voice of Silence Speak for Those Loved Ones Who Made the Supreme Sacrifice for God and Country.” Several drawings, including those exhibited nearby, include this draped and mourning female figure, sometimes shown making a gesture of prayer, sometimes with hands crossed on her chest, and other times with her hands clasped together and thrust downward. In the drawing Woman in a Cloak, the figures of the person standing with crutches and a woman assisting a child were intended for a sculptural installation symbolizing the various divisions of Iowa State College; these figures would have been part of the Home Economics division.

Locations