Details
CHESLEY BONESTELL (1888-1986)
THE MOON FALLS BACK ON THE EARTH
signed Chesley Bonestell (lower left), titled and signed The moon falls back on the earth / Chesley Bonestell (on reverse)
oil on board
1314 x 934 in. (33.6 x 24.8 cm.)
Executed circa 1947.
Provenance
Anonymous sale; Philip Weiss Auctions, Lynbrook, New York, 10 September 2015, lot 450G.
Acquired at the above sale by the late owner.
Literature
"The End of the World," Coronet Magazine, July 1947, illustrated (Schuetz 8).
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Lot Essay

"As the moon is split apart by our superior force of gravity, its huge fragments will shatter our cities into oblivion" (Coronet magazine, July 1947)

Coronet magazine commissioned this painting for the article "The End of the World," less than two years after the nuclear attacks on Japan. This painting was captioned as follows: "The moon's influence on our ocean tides retards the earth's rotation about one second every 100,000 years. As the earth slows, the moon is receding to a point where the earth's rotation might accelerate and, like a colossal magnet, draw the moon back to within 8,000 miles of us. Then, as the moon is split apart by our superior force of gravity, its huge fragments will shatter our cities into oblivion..."

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