Abraham Lincoln

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

Foundry Polich Art Works (American (Rock Tavern, NY))

Date2006

MediumBronze

Dimensions24 1/2 x 13 x 16 in. (62.2 x 33 x 40.6 cm)

ClassificationsSculpture

Credit LineCasts commissioned by University Museums: 1-9-2006, CPAC, Funded with support from Beverly and Warren Madden. (2-9-2006, Gilbert Community Schools, Gilbert, Iowa). In the Christian Petersen Art Collection, Art on Campus Collection, University Museums, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa.

Object numberU2007.11

Status

On view

Collections

CultureAmerican

Label TextFrom the University Museums Collections Handbook, vol. 2, 2025: Christian Petersen designed this statue of a seated Lincoln for a 1933 art competition sponsored by the city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Petersen depicted Lincoln in various iterations throughout his career, from the young frontiersman in sculpture, to small bronze busts, to a large bust in Bedford Limestone (currently located within Morrill Hall) completed near the end of Petersen’s career. Abraham Lincoln was a popular subject both nationally and for Iowa State due to the to the Morrill Act, which established the land-grant funding system for higher education. In 1862, Lincoln signed the act into law, helping to establish colleges across the country focusing on teaching agriculture, engineering, and “the practical education of the industrial classes.” The state of Iowa was the first to accept the terms of the 1862 Morrill Act and Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm (now Iowa State University) became one of the earliest land-grant institutions. A plaster model of this sculpture was originally housed at Gilbert High School in Gilbert, Iowa, where Petersen lived later in life. In 2006, the plaster model was given to University Museums and cast in bronze by Polich Art Foundry in New York. One bronze sculpture is installed in the Anderson Sculpture Garden, the other in Gilbert High School, giving further context to Christian Petersen’s body of work. The original plaster is housed in the Christian Petersen Art Collection, Morrill Hall.

Locations