Conversations, (sculpture).

Conversations, (sculpture).

Petersen, Christian, 1885-1961, sculptor.

Conversations, (sculpture).

Student Statues, (sculpture).

Digital Reference:

Figures: Bedford limestone; Base: Bedford limestone.

4 figure groups. (Seated female, east end of wall: approx. 62 x 67 1/2 x 19 in.) (Female and male, center of wall: approx. 6 ft. 4 in. x 6 ft. x 4 ft.) (Reclining female, west end of wall: approx. 32 x 80 x 19 in.) (Two females, west end of wall: approx. 79 x 46 x 39 in.).

Six figures, consisting of four separate pieces, are grouped in three places along a low brick wall. Next to the east end of the wall, a female sits on a limestone block; her hands are around her knees, which are drawn up towards her chest. In the center of the wall, a male and a female stand leaning against each other, looking at a book. On top of the west end of the wall, a female reclines on her stomach, propping her chin up with her proper right hand. She looks at the last figure group, two females, one of whom stands while the other sits next to the west end of the wall on a limestone block. They are looking at a book.

Recreation -- Leisure -- Conversation

Recreation -- Leisure -- Reading

Occupation -- Education -- Student

Outdoor Sculpture -- Iowa -- Ames

Administered by Iowa State University, University Museums, Brunnier Art Museum, 290 Scheman Building, Ames, Iowa 50011

Located Iowa State University, Brick Wall between Oak & Elm Residence Halls, Ames, Iowa

The sculptor planned the figure groups for an entry wall to the campus at the northwest corner of Lincoln Way and Beach; however, because of highway improvements to that intersection, the figures were stored in an outdoor covered walkway in the Veterinary quadrangle for eight years. The current location of the figures was finally designated ca. 1963; the location was an alternate site approved by the sculptor prior to his death in 1961. Students initiated a fundraising campaign to pay for the installation of the works. The sculptor's widow named the figure groups "Conversations" after the sculptor's death. Raised inscription on bronze plaque on brick wall reads: Christian Petersen/"CONVERSATIONS", 1947-55/Bedford Limestone.

Iowa State University, Brunnier Gallery and Museum, 1989.

Save Outdoor Sculpture, Iowa survey, 1993.

Bliss, Patricia L., "Christian Petersen Remembered," Ames, Iowa: Iowa State University Press, 1986.

Bliss, Patricia L., "Christian Petersen, Sculptor," Bettendorf, Iowa: Pegasus Productions, 1986.

Iowa State University, University Museums, 2017.

Bliss, Patricia L., "Christian Petersen Remembered," Ames, Iowa: Iowa State University Press, 1986, pg. 99.

The information provided about this artwork was compiled as part of the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture database, designed to provide descriptive and location information on artworks by American artists in public and private collections worldwide.

Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture, Smithsonian American Art Museum, P.O. Box 37012, MRC 970, Washington, D.C. 20013-7012

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