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Author Topic:   Help identifying Alan Bean artwork print
gliderpilotuk
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Posts: 3398
From: London, UK
Registered: Feb 2002

posted 03-31-2014 09:29 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for gliderpilotuk   Click Here to Email gliderpilotuk     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Could anyone help with the identity, edition, print run etc of this Alan Bean print?

At the lower left right below the image it says, "First man on the moon, Neil Armstrong — July 1969." The paper is embossed "Associated Aviation Underwriters" on three centered lines below the image. The image is 21x20" and the overall paper size is 28"H x 25"W.

Sputnik 1
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Posts: 48
From: Heilbronn, Germany
Registered: Jul 2011

posted 03-31-2014 09:43 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Sputnik 1   Click Here to Email Sputnik 1     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
The original painting is named, "Locking up the Rocks" and was completed in 1985. The dimension is 24x20 inches, it is acrylic on Masonite.

I have found the following story behind the painting at the Alan Bean Gallery.

We knew even before Apollo 11 blasted off that the single most important thing Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin could do was to bring back pieces of the Moon. These samples would be loaded into two return containers, each formed from a single piece of aluminum. A ring of soft metal called indium lined the lip of each box while, around the edge of the lid was a knife-like strip. I painted Neil just as he activated one of the four locking levers which causes the knife edge to bite deeply into the indium, thus sealing the rocks in the Moon's vacuum for their quarter-million-mile trip to Earth.

I thought about painting this for a long time, but put it off again and again. I concentrated, instead, on painting astronauts working in the intense lunar sunshine because I enjoy the bright white, sun-struck space suit. This painting would be different because Neil would be in the shadow of the lunar module.

All Apollo landings were made with the Sun to the rear of the lunar module so that the craters and boulders would be most visible during the landing descent. After landing, the area in front of the lunar module is then in total shadow, and this is where Neil stood to fill, close, and lock the rock sample box. To my delight, this total shadow effect worked beautifully, with Neil somewhat dark and colorful in shadow and the Sea of Tranquility a bright counterpoint.

I have never seen this picture as an edition print before.

gliderpilotuk
Member

Posts: 3398
From: London, UK
Registered: Feb 2002

posted 03-31-2014 11:23 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for gliderpilotuk   Click Here to Email gliderpilotuk     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Many thanks.

It's a great print with subtle colours. I intend to frame it with a matted Armstrong signature.

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