Buffalo

Object NameSculpture

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

Date1934

MediumPainted plaster

Dimensions6 1/8 × 12 × 5 1/4 in. (15.6 × 30.5 × 13.3 cm)

ClassificationsSculpture

Credit LineGift of Charlotte Petersen to Special Collections, Iowa State University Library. Transferred to University Museums. In the Christian Petersen Art Collection, Christian Petersen Art Museum, University Museums, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa.

Object numberUM99.53

Status

Not on view

Collections

CultureAmerican

Label TextFrom the University Museums Collections Handbook, vol. 2, 2025: In January 1934, Grant Wood, famed Iowa artist and director of the Iowa Public Works of Art Project (PWAP), invited Christian Petersen to join his studio at the State University of Iowa, Iowa City, where Petersen became the only professional sculptor employed by the project. This painted plaster study, featuring four running buffaloes, was created by Petersen during his employment with the PWAP. It served as a preliminary model for a proposed bridgehead sculpture in Des Moines that was ultimately never realized. Notably, this is one of only two small sculpture maquettes Petersen produced for the PWAP. Buffalo have long symbolized the spirit of the American frontier, becoming enduring icons in American art. In 1913, American sculptor and medallic artist James Earle Fraser (1876–1953), a contemporary of Petersen, designed the Buffalo Nickel. A student of renowned sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens, Fraser created a five-cent coin featuring a Native American profile on the front and a buffalo on the reverse, in circulation from 1913 to 1938. Growing up in the Midwest, Fraser was deeply influenced by his early experiences, later reflected in both his coin design and his sculpture The End of the Trail (1894), also featured in the University Museums’ collection. In a 1911 letter to the U.S. Mint, he wrote, “The idea of the Indian and the buffalo on the same coin is, without doubt, purely American and seems to be singularly appropriate to have on one of our national coins.” In the 19th and early 20th century, American artists played a significant role in drawing attention to the dramatic decline of the buffalo population, documenting its impact on the lives of Native Americans, and advocating for conservation efforts.

Locations