Study for Conversations: Man and woman

Object NameDrawing

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

Date1946-1947

Originu.s.a

MediumPaper; brown pencil

Dimensions4 x 6 in. (10.2 x 15.2 cm)

ClassificationsDrawings

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

Object numberum92.55

Status

Not on view

Collections

Label TextPetersen’s last major sculpture for Iowa State was also his most frustrating and difficult to realize. Since the 1930s, he had dreamed of establishing an elaborate sculptural entrance to the university, and for years he devised images to symbolize the mission of higher education at Iowa State and the life to be found there. He was not able to persuade the college to support him in his goals, but at last he was given permission to move forward with a project involving three large sculptures that would represent the lives and concerns of college students. He had hoped to place them in a prominent spot where they could be easily seen and would provide an artistic introduction to the campus. But with post-war expansion and the re-orientation of the school, Petersen’s sculptures had to wait nearly a decade before they were installed. As his retirement passed, and the sculptures were still not placed, Petersen, who rarely made public comments of any kind, much less critical ones, began to express some impatience with the University. He found sympathy from the student newspaper which carried several stories on the situation, encouraging the administration to complete the project. Shortly before his death in 1961, Petersen approved its current location at the Oak-Elm dormitory complex. Although it is not as extensive as he would have liked or installed according to his first preference, it is an extremely affecting work whose intimate nature seems well suited to its placement. The studies show how attentive Petersen was to scale, materials, position, and construction. Three distinctive limestone sculptures mark a long brick wall with a concrete top. The installation begins with a group of three women who congregate for study or discussion. They are followed by a couple comprised of a young man who reads from a book as a young woman leans in to share the book or perhaps to distract him. A drawing shows that Petersen considered making this group a post-war “baby-boomer” family with a child, but decided to concentrate on the couple alone. This central group is one of the most complex Petersen created, both symbolically and compositionally; in order to comprehend both figures entirely, one must view them from both the front and the back of the wall. The final figure is a lone female who faces away from the campus and is absorbed not in a conversation with others, but with herself.

Locations