Name: CHESLEY BONESTELL (1888-1986)
Brand: LUNAR EXPEDITION IN SINUS RORIS
Price: 70000.00 USD
Availability: SoldOut

CHESLEY BONESTELL (1888-1986)
LUNAR EXPEDITION IN SINUS RORIS
signed Chesley Bonestell (lower left), and inscribed Wernher / from / Chesley / August 54 (lower left)
oil on board
14¹⁄₂ x 29³⁄₈ in. (36.8 x 74.6 cm.) (sight)
Executed circa 1952.

Chesley Bonestell (1888-1986), Altadena, California.
Wernher von Braun (1912-1977), Huntsville, Alabama; gifted from the above, August 1954.
Frederick I. Ordway III (1927-2014), Huntsville, Alabama; acquired from the estate of the above, May 1979.
Acquired by the late owner from the above, 2003.

Fred Whipple and Wernher von Braun, "Man on the Moon: The Exploration," Collier’s, 25 October 1952, pp. 44-45, illustrated (Schuetz 99).
Wernher von Braun, Fred Whipple, and Willy Ley, Conquest of the Moon (New York, 1953), front cover, p. 101, illustrated (Schuetz 117).
Ron Miller and Frederick C. Durant III, The Art of Chesley Bonestell (London) 2001, p. 185, illustrated.
Frederick I. Ordway III, Visions of Spaceflight: Images from the Ordway Collection (New York, 2001), p. 140, illustrated.

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Lot Essay

A convoy of tractors traverse the lunar surface to explore a massive crater, by greenish earth light.

A dramatically lit view of the lunar surface, published as a double-page spread in "Man on the Moon: The Exploration" article from the 25 October 1952 issue of Collier's. This was the concluding chapter of the Man on the Moon sequence in the famous "Man Will Conquer Space Soon!" series (which included an inset article by Willy Ley on the inside of the lunar lander). This painting was captioned: "At end of two-week long lunar day, convoy of tractors, each pulling two of its three trailers, moves cautiously across rough terrain near plain of Sinus Roris (Dewy Bay). Glare of mountain range to north is caused by setting sun. Remainder of scene is illuminated by greenish earth light."