Model for the Cattle Foundation: The History of Dairying (Study of Cows)

Object NameModel

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

Manufacturer Iowa State University, University Museums

Date1934

OriginUSA

MediumPainted plaster

Dimensions12 x 24 x 6 in. (30.5 x 61 x 15.2 cm)

ClassificationsArt on Campus Preparatory Studies and Maquettes

Credit LineGift of Animal Science Department, Iowa State University. In the Christian Petersen Art Collection, Art on Campus Preparatory Studies and Maquette Collection, Christian Petersen Art Museum, University Museums, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa. Conservation funded by Carl and Dorothy Ekberg.

Object numberU90.101

Status

On view

Collections

Label TextModel for the History of Dairying Mural: Study of Cows, 1934 Painted plaster, 12 x 24 x 6 Cast, study for central fountain sculpture in Dairy Industry Building Courtyard. Three Jersey cows are bending their heads low to drink water while a bull stands and looks over their heads. The "History of Dairying Mural and Fountain" marks the grand and difficult start of Christian Petersen's twenty-one-year career as campus sculptor-in-residence. Made of terra cotta, the entire bas relief mural measures over seventy feet long, contains forty-four panels, and required more than 600 hours of kiln firing. However, as was typical of Petersen's work, it began with a small model in clay later cast into plaster, and then progressed to life-size models before the final work was cast and fired. The "Model for History of Dairying Mural and Fountain” was the central focal panel of the "History of Dairying Mural and Fountain. Sculptured in unusually high relief for such a large work of terra cotta, it was the most challenging section of the mural for the artist and his collaborator, Paul E. Cox, ceramics engineer at Iowa State. The small models, like this one, were created for the approval of Martin Mortensen, chairman of the Dairy Industry Department, and Iowa State College President Raymond M. Hughes. Once approved, Petersen expanded his design into full-scale, one-piece bas reliefs that were later divided into sections suitable in size for the kiln. After eight weeks of firing test panels, the pair launched into eight months of carefully maintained firings that lasted approximately three days each. The “History of Dairying Mural and Fountain" is one of the twelve major public works of art on campus produced by Petersen during his campus tenure. When President Raymond Hughes commissioned Christain Petersen for a fountain for the courtyard of the Dairy Industry Building in 1933, he had no idea the extent to which Petersen would expand that project. From a simple fountain, Petersen devised a large sculptural mural that would fill the entire back wall of the courtyard. The centerpiece, as shown in his First Sketch nearby, was at first to be a female figure. But his first plan did not meet with Grant Wood's approval, so Petersen altered his design into a seven panel mural whose central fountain became the thoroughly Regionalist subject matter of an agricultural scene. The dairy cattle in Petersen's new design seem to "drink" from a trompe l'oeil pool. This sculpture here may have been Petersen's response to Wood's request for a specific model of what he planned to do for the new version of the design for the central panel of the Dairy mural.

Object Titles[com.gallerysystems.emuseum.core.entities.ObjectTitle@96f1]

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