skin over hip bones

(1)





Reiny milked cows in Courtland, Minnesota, where he grew up.








(2)

In the Spring of 1948 he was taking college classes in Valparaiso, Indiana.






(3)

Over Easter vacation in 1948, roughly March 28th, he hitch hiked up to visit his favorite aunt in Owosso, Michigan.(3)

He visited the Carl and Esther Bandkau farm nearly every other weekend when he was at Valpo.(4)

(RIGHT, Esther Bandkau. courtesy of Marie, Reiny's sister) (5)

His sister Omi told me that Reiny probably enjoyed visiting his aunt. He was away from home. He had a place to go on holidays or weekends (6)

(NEXT, Carl Bandkau. courtesy of Marie, Reiny's sister) (7)

His cousin Stanley Bandkau told me over the phone: "Reiny. You bet I knew him. When he was stationed at Battle Creek, Michigan he would come up every other weekend. Fort Custer is in Battle Creek. It's not far from here. Reiny took a bus from Battle Creek. We would drive into town and meet him at the bus station. People traveled by bus much more back then. Our farm is two miles out of Owosso. Reiny made a picture of the farm. His pictures looked realistic." (8)      (RIGHT, Stanley Bandkau. courtesy of Marie,  Reiny's sister) (9)

Pencil sketches from Easter break, the last of March in 1948. (double click to enlarge)

Three months later, on June 27, 1948, Reiny enjoyed the company of MSU students, while he was doing watercolors along Lake Michigan in Leland. 

In his journal he mentioned "Tom, Dick, Joan Dodge, Sal, Helen," and indicated there were "a few more" in that summer painting class. 

In that part of Michigan it was common to have strawberry and cherry festivals. Reiny remembered that afternoon as a car ride to a strawberry festival in Good Harbor. The student named Sal remembered it as a cherry party at a farm. But one thing stuck out with Reiny, he was always into cows. He talked about the beauty in cows. How the skin went over the hip bones and how he wanted to do that. 

Sally told the story this way.

"He was into cows and barns and farms. Six of us were going for a ride to a cherry party. He saw a cow and pointed out the bones on the cow. How he wanted to paint that. And we laughed at the beauty of the cows. No one thought to think of cows." (10) 

(11)

(12)

References:
(1) photo from Sally Chadwick Mckenzie, Harbor Springs, MI
(2) Freshman class photo from Beacon Yearbook, Valparaiso University
(3) caption from Reiny journal 1947 to 1948
(4) letter from Reinhold to son Karl and Jan his wife
(5)(7)(9) photos of Carl, Esther, and Stanley from Marie Marxhausen Lodwig, Lincoln, NE 
(6) phone conversation with Karl on Dec. 10, 2014 
(8) phone conversation with Karl on Oct. 17, 2014 
(9) pencil sketches from Reiny journal 1947 to 1948
(10) phone conversation with Karl on Feb. 18, 2015
(11) phone conversations on Feb. 18, 19, 23, 2015
(11) 1948 watercolor of farm barn, from Sally Chadwick McKenzie, Harbor Springs, MI.
(12) "The New Straw Pile, Courtland, Minnesota," watercolor by Reinhold Marxhausen. The painting that the 1948 wc was based on.