Reinhold Marxhausen

Mural in the Nebraska State Capitol by Marxhausen

Reinhold Pieper Marxhausen (April 13, 1922 - April 23, 2011), is an American artist known for his work in sculpture, mosaic, painting and found object art. Reinhold studied at Valparaiso University, the Art Institute in Chicago, the Ray-Vogue School in Chicago and Mills College in California. He became the first art department chair at Concordia University, Nebraska in 1951, teaching there until his retirement in 1991. During this time he gained national recognition through various exhibits across the country. His most well-known works include two massive mosaic murals in the Nebraska State Capitol and the small sound sculptures called Stardust.

Biography

Marxhausen was born in Vergas, Minnesota, United States, in 1922, the son of a Lutheran pastor. Although his father wanted him to follow in his footsteps and attend the Lutheran seminary, Marxhausen saw his future in the arts. At the age of 20, he opened his own paint and glass store before he was drafted for World War II. During the war, Marxhausen served in New Guinea and the Philippines as a POW processor. After returning to the United States, he attended Valparaiso University on behalf of the GI Bill. As there was no formal art department at Valparaiso, Marxhausen earned his degree in Biology instead, and graduated in 1950. The following year he studied for a summer at the Art Institute of Chicago. Additionally, he studied at the University of Minnesota in Duluth under the mentorship of Max Weber and Millard Sheets. In 1951, he was offered a job teaching art at Concordia Teacher's College (now Concordia University) in Seward, Nebraska. In 1953, Marxhausen married Concordia student Dorris Steinbrueck. They have two sons, Karl and Paul.

In 1962, Marxhausen took a year-long sabbatical to complete his MFA at Mills College in Oakland, California. In 1971, Marxhausen took his family on a year-long tour of the nation to lead workshops and seminars at churches and schools. The tour was completed in four segments of the United States: northwest, northeast, southeast and southwest. During this time, Marxhausen led hundreds of workshops and was featured on several tv and radio broadcasts. His family spent the entire year traveling and living out of their Winnebago.

Marxhausen retired from Concordia in 1991.

Notable works

After earning his MFA, Marxhausen's new interest lay in welding and he became fascinated with the idea of sound sculpture. He invented several types of sound sculpture including the Portable Walkman, Cosmic Cube and Stardust. The Stardust in particular became extremely popular and sparked an invitation to the David Letterman Show on March 25, 1986.[1] Stardust are small, round objects made out of stainless steel that make a light, tinkling sound when shaken.

In 1966, Marxhausen entered a contest to design one of six mosaic mural for the Nebraska State Capitol. The committee in charge of choosing the winners decided to complete only three murals at first. Marxhausen was one of the winners, and the only native of Nebraska. He was assigned the theme, "The Spirit of Nebraska" for his mural, and he set to work using venetian glass, brick and oak. Shortly after this first mural was completed, Marxhausen submitted his name for one of the second three murals. Again, he was selected and his theme this time was "The Building of the Capitol." He featured the quote from the Declaration of Independence, "All men are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."

Artistic philosophy

During his years at Concordia, Marxhausen gained repute as a unique and inspiring educator. He constantly encouraged his students to see the beauty in everyday life.[2] In a fundamental art class, he took his students outside in the winter, asking them to sculpt with snow. He took students to the local dump for a Thanksgiving Day service, highlighting the vast sea of material goods for which to give thanks. Much of his own art consisted of found objects - garden gloves, dryer lint, tire rubber, marbles, and other scraps he picked up around his home.

Much of his art had a Christian message behind it. Marxhausen was a proponent of creating art for churches, and in fact was commissioned to make works for churches in California, Colorado, Nebraska, Kansas, and Illinois. He said, "Why have gothic art in twentieth-century churches? Shouldn't twentieth-century churches have twentieth-century art?"[3] This quote reflects his vision in which every church would have a resident artist.

References

  1. ↑ "Reinhold Marxhausen on David Letterman, March 25, 1986". YouTube. Retrieved 2016-03-05.
  2. ↑ The Broadcaster, Concordia Teacher's College, Vol. 27, no. 5, June 1953.
  3. ↑ Baxter, Jo. Sunday World-Herald Magazine of the Midlands, Sept. 1, 1968.
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