Mildred Finegan

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

Date1942

MediumTerra Cotta

Dimensions9 1/2 × 4 1/2 × 4 1/2 in. (24.1 × 11.4 × 11.4 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 numberUM2024.156

Status

Not on view

Collections

CultureAmerican

Label TextFrom the University Museums Collections Handbook, vol. 2, 2025: In January 1942, members of the Iowa State Faculty Women’s Club gathered in the Great Hall of the Memorial Union for a program on “the art of sculpturing” by Christian Petersen, organized by the Club’s fine arts group. Petersen, a renowned sculptor and instructor in the Applied Art Department, selected Mildred Catherine Meader Finegan (1907–1993) as his model. Mildred was a Club member and lived in Ames with her husband, Jack, who headed the department and was a professor of Religious Education. As Petersen sculpted a portrait bust of Mildred, he explained his techniques to the audience. During the program, Professor Joanne Hansen, former chair of the Applied Art Department, provided an overview of Petersen’s career, highlighting his studies and major works on campus, including the Fountain of the Four Seasons and his mural reliefs History of Dairying and Veterinary Medicine. Christian Petersen and his wife, Charlotte, were well known among Iowa State faculty. When visiting friends, Petersen often brought along potter’s clay, creating small portrait heads of his hosts. These six in. busts, later fired and returned to their subjects, were cherished mementos. The bust of 33-year-old Mildred captures her face and neck emerging into view, with the reverse side left unfinished. The figure closely resembles the final sculpture created for the Finegan (sic Finnegan) family, suggesting it was completed around the time of the 1942 demonstration.

Published ReferencesEighmey, Rae K.; Geiger, Marlene. "Keepsakes: A History of the Iowa State University Women’s Club 1897-1997." Iowa State University Women’s Club, 1997. - page 53 "In 1942, Christian Petersen, noted sculptor in the Applied Art Department, discussed sculpture techniques as he sculpted a head of Mrs. Jack Finegan." URL: https://www.isuwc.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/KeepSakes-A-History-of-the-ISU-Womens-Club-1897-1997_web.pdf Photograph of bust of a woman named Mildred Finegan by Christian Petersen. Special Collections, Christian Petersen papers, Call Number, RS 26/02/52. Link: https://digitalcollections.lib.iastate.edu/islandora/object/isu%3APetersenChristian_204 Christian Petersen Catalogue Raisonne: 289. Mildred Finegan Known from images in Papers, SC, Box 10 f.1 and Pat Bliss archives, University Museums, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa "C.Petersen Demonstrates Art of Sculpturing for Club Women." Ames Daily Tribune, Jan. 15, 1942. Link: https://ames.advantage-preservation.com/viewer/?k=christian%20petersen&i=f&by=1942&bdd=1940&d=01151942-01151942&m=on&ord=k1&fn=ames_daily_tribune_usa_iowa_ames_19420115_english_3&df=1&dt=1&cid=2729

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