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Christian Petersen
Christian Petersen
Christian Petersen

Christian Petersen

Object NamePortrait
Artist / Maker (Swedish-American, 1879 - 1952)
Date1943
MediumOil
Dimensions38" x 32" (96.5 x 81.2cm)
ClassificationsPaintings
Credit LineGift of the Playmakers of Ames. In the Art on Campus Collection, University Museums, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa.
Object numberUM82.127
Status
Not on view
Label TextJohnson was commissioned by Iowa State to create several official portraits of campus faculty. He also became a close family friend of Charlotte and Christian Petersen. Johnson painted two portraits of Christian, with this one becoming the official Iowa State portrait and visually places Petersen in context of his studio and Iowa State. Widely known for his white shirt and tie, Petersen is shown working with rolled up shirt sleeves as he sculpts the portrait bust of Martin Mortensen, who was the head of Dairy Science, and with whom petersen first worked at Iowa State when he sculpted the History of Dairying (1933-34) bas relief mural for the Dairy Industry Building. Also illustrated in the background is the Library Girl (completed in 1944 after this painting was finished).
Locations
  • (not entered)  Iowa State University, Christian Petersen Art Museum, Collections Storage
Object Name: Portrait
Frank I. Johnson
c. 1940
Object number: um92.609
Christian Petersen
Object Name: Drawing, portrait
Frank I. Johnson
1943
Object number: um94.1
Raymond Allen Pearson, President, Iowa State College, 1912-1926
Object Name: Portrait
Frank I. Johnson
1943
Object number: U88.12
Genevieve Fisher, Dean, College of Home Economics, 1927-1944
Object Name: Portrait
Frank I. Johnson
1943
Object number: U82.126
Thomas Agg, Dean, College of Engineering, 1932-1946
Object Name: Portrait
Frank I. Johnson
c. 1940s
Object number: U88.37
Portrait of Bernard W. Hammer, Professor, Dairy Bacteriology, 1912-1943
Object Name: Painting
Frank I. Johnson
1943
Object number: U2006.107
Dark Presence (White), March 20, 1963
Object Name: Painting
Frank Lobdell
1963
Object number: UM2011.177
Object Name: Portrait
Rose Frantzen
2022
Object number: U2022.69
Frank Johnson
Object Name: Portrait Bust
Christian Petersen
1940
Object number: U89.40