Returning wounded World War II veteran

Object NameDrawing

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

Datec. 1944

OriginU.S.A.

MediumPencil on paper

Dimensions16 3/4 x 13 3/4 in. (42.5 x 34.9 cm)

ClassificationsDrawings

Credit LinePurchased by University Museums from Mary Petersen with the Christian Petersen Memorial Fund. In the Christian Petersen Art Collection, Christian Petersen Art Museum, University Museums, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa.

Object numberum92.239

Status

Not on view

Collections

Label TextPetersen had been appalled and angered by the savagery of World War I, as he demonstrated in several war memorials and sculptures he produced soon after the conflict ended in 1918. The advent of World War II distressed him no less. In addition to his long-held hatred of war (although he was a pacifist), he now felt acutely the reality that many of his students were serving and suffering in the battles throughout the globe. Among the drawings presented to the Brunnier by Petersen’s daughter, Mary, many have to do themes of war. Some can be related to specific finished works of art, but many are clearly a reflection of Petersen’s obsession with this theme and his deep need to express his feelings about it. It is likely that he hoped to create a major war monument or a series of sculptural complexes on the tragedy of war. Like the sculptures he did not complete, the drawings show that he was concerned with the human dramas presented by conflict, such as offering aid to a stricken victim or the return home of a wounded veteran. By the late 1940s, some of the ideas had metamorphosed into broader spiritual themes.

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