Two Children - Young Boy

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

Date1939

MediumPlaster

Dimensions12 1/2 × 5 1/4 × 4 in. (31.8 × 13.3 × 10.2 cm)

ClassificationsSculpture

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

Object numberUM2024.153

Status

On view

Collections

CultureAmerican

Label TextFrom the University Museums Collections Handbook, vol. 2, 2025: The sculpture pair Two Children, created by Christian Petersen in 1939, features individual 12 in. figures of a young boy and girl, each about three to four years old. Sculpted in clay, one depicts Petersen’s daughter, Mary, holding her rag doll with a dejected expression. The other figure portrays a neighborhood boy, her playmate, proudly holding a new puppy. According to Petersen’s wife, Charlotte, the boy had boasted about the puppy, telling Mary, “You can’t play with it,” highlighting a moment of childhood tension. Charlotte began reproducing the sculptures in plaster and selling them during the mid-1960s, continuing for about a decade. Later, in 1986, Pegasus Productions created thirty-six pairs of Permastone castings of the originals under a royalty agreement with Charlotte and Mary Petersen. These castings became a means of preserving and sharing Petersen’s art, with several examples now held in permanent collections. This pair of sculptures captures a poignant snapshot of childhood emotions, embodying Petersen’s talent for conveying narrative through his art.

MarkingsBottom: "Christmas 1976; Love, Mary."

Locations