carving question - r p marxhausen

Monday December 5th I was in Concordia, Missouri, on the campus of St. Paul's Lutheran High School, to look at works my father had made.

Thanks to the Director of the school Paul Mehl and the Advancement Director Bart Mueller, I was shown a marvelous wood-carving on the lobby wall of Krueger Dining Hall.

A bas-relief carved from a single piece of wood. Roughly measuring two feet wide and three and a half feet tall and a depth of one inch. Here, Bart Mueller holds a ruler next to the carving. Double click to make image larger.

Paul Mehl told me it was called "Paul In The Face Of Christ."

Look closely to see a face within a face. The way the two persons meld in the design reminded me of the illustrations by William Blake.
Could this exquisite piece have been carved by Reinhold P. Marxhausen of Seward, Nebraska?

That work raised many unanswered questions.

Today Dec 7 I found two other carvings my father had chiseled out of stone.

The Eagle which hung around our house when all of us lived on Columbia Avenue. We had moved there in 1964.

The tall marble cylinder that was among many works Dad had on his studio deck, next.

The Head of Christ, above. Below, photo of Reinhold cutting on the marble cylinder, in his office space studio - on the third floor of Founders Hall. Early in his teaching career as Art instructor at Concordia Teacher College in Seward, Nebraska. He started teaching in the fall of 1951. My guess, that photo is no later than the mid-1950s.

How did Reinhold get connected doing artwork for St.Paul's College in Missouri?

A couple thoughts: his bride Dorris Steinbrueck was from Blackburn in Lafayette County. That campus was nearby. There is the Missouri Synod Lutheran connection. It is hard to say. But I am hoping to hear from others who know something about St. Paul's College and High School and more about this unusual wood-carving.