Mother with Walking Child
Object NameModel
Artist / Maker
Christian Petersen
(Danish - American, 1885 - 1961)
Date1938
OriginUSA
MediumFired clay
Dimensions16 in. (40.6 cm)
ClassificationsSculpture
Credit LineGift of James Borcherding. In the Christian Petersen Art Collection, Christian Petersen Art Museum, University Museums, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa.
Object numberU92.402
Status
Not on viewLabel TextOften a mother and her children were used by Petersen to represent bonds that exist and are nurtured through life’s circumstances. Sometimes these bonds exist spontaneously under happy circumstances; sometimes the bonds are challenged by adverse circumstances that demand care, thought, defense and understanding. These qualities are captured by gesture and posture even in the early rough stages of this unfinished clay model. In pencil Petersen outlined the figure shapes which he intended to sculpt from the limestone block, however, he never finished. What remains are powerful impressions in clay and stone.
Object Name: Sculpture
Christian Petersen
1938
Object number: U92.401
Object Name: Model, portrait
Christian Petersen
Object number: UM2003.168
Object Name: Model
Christian Petersen
1934
Object number: U90.101
