Details
CHESLEY BONESTELL (1888-1986)
THE STRAIGHT WALL
signed Chesley / Bonestell (lower right)
oil on board
1258 x 1058 in. (32.1 x 27 cm.) (sight)
Provenance
Anonymous sale; Heritage Auctions, Dallas, 12 October 2016, lot 71037.
Acquired at the above sale by the late owner.
Literature
Chesley Bonestell, Rocket to the Moon (New York, 1961), illustrated (Schuetz 277).
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Lot Essay

One of the most famous natural features of the Moon, featured in a multi-media children's feature narrated by Walter Cronkite. It was of course Walter Cronkite who anchored the CBS coverage of man's first lunar landing in July, 1969—watched by tens of millions of Americans. This painting was published in a children's book commissioned by Columbia Record Club and both written and illustrated by Chesley Bonestell. The book was packaged with 24 color slides (of which this image was one) and a 45-rpm record featuring Walter Cronkite as on the journey.

"The Straight Wall" (Rupes recta) marks a 110km fault with a height of around 250 meters. Although its wide shadow gives it the appearance of a cliff wall, the grade is fairly shallow.

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