Jens Jensen

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

Date1930-32

OriginUnited States of America

MediumPainted plaster

Dimensions20 x 12 x 11 in. (50.8 x 30.5 x 27.9 cm)

ClassificationsSculpture

Credit LinePurchased by University Museums from Charlotte Petersen by Iowa State Students for the Landscape Architecture Department. In the Christian Petersen Collection, Art on Campus Collection, University Museums, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa.

Object numberU94.2

Status

Not on view

Collections

Label TextJensen (1860-1951) was a Danish-born landscape architect who designed portions of the Iowa State campus in the 1920's. A contemporary of Frank Lloyd Wright, Jensen settled in Chicago in 1886 and began to build his reputation with his designs for public parks in the Chicago area and private parks and gardens. He used plants native to the Midwest and advocated the concept of the garden as a refuge in the face of modern technology. He wanted his landscpae designs to look as unplanned and natural as possible. Christian Petersen may have known Jensen through contacts in the Danish-American community and through his father, who was a friend of Jensen's. In describing the sittings during the sculpting, Petersen remarked with some frustration that "he is not the best of models- seems to think that whole thing is a huge joke." Jensen's lighthearted, jobial attitude is captured in one of Petersen's liveliest portraits.

MarkingsSigned in square: CP

Locations