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CHESLEY BONESTELL, 1952
Details
THE EARTH IS BORN / BEGINNING OF THE WORLD
CHESLEY BONESTELL, 1952
Signed Chesley Bonestell (lower left), captioned Granite Continent and islands are 1/4 mile high / spectator is 1/2 mile above ocean of molten rock / Highest lava fountain is about 400 feet / moon is 10,000 miles away plus radius of earth (total 14,000 approx.) (typed, on reverse)
Cover art for Life magazine, December 1952: a dramatic depiction of the formation of the Earth's continents. This was the first of several Bonestell paintings illustrating the essay series by Lincoln Barnett entitled "The World We Live In."
These essays were published as a separate book in 1955, and a different detail of this same painting was used on the cover of that book. However, interestingly, the Moon bears different features on the book cover. At the time of the formation of the Earth's continents, the Moon was much smoother than it is in the human era. In 1952, in the present painting, Bonestell depicted the Moon with modern features, but by 1955 he had realized his error and corrected it.
Sir Arthur C. Clarke's comments on Chesley Bonestell are particularly poignant when viewing The Earth is Born. He said, "Chesley is the original Kilroy – he's been there ahead of them all. Neil Armstrong? Well, Tranquility Base was established over Bonestell's tracks and discarded squeezed-out paint tubes. The man not only moves across space, but also across time. He was present at our world's birth and has also set up his easel to paint its death..." (quoted in Miller, The Art of Space, Zenith Press, 2014, p.26).
14 1/8 x 28 7/8 in. (35.9 x 73.3 cm.)
Mixed media on board
CHESLEY BONESTELL, 1952
Signed Chesley Bonestell (lower left), captioned Granite Continent and islands are 1/4 mile high / spectator is 1/2 mile above ocean of molten rock / Highest lava fountain is about 400 feet / moon is 10,000 miles away plus radius of earth (total 14,000 approx.) (typed, on reverse)
Cover art for Life magazine, December 1952: a dramatic depiction of the formation of the Earth's continents. This was the first of several Bonestell paintings illustrating the essay series by Lincoln Barnett entitled "The World We Live In."
These essays were published as a separate book in 1955, and a different detail of this same painting was used on the cover of that book. However, interestingly, the Moon bears different features on the book cover. At the time of the formation of the Earth's continents, the Moon was much smoother than it is in the human era. In 1952, in the present painting, Bonestell depicted the Moon with modern features, but by 1955 he had realized his error and corrected it.
Sir Arthur C. Clarke's comments on Chesley Bonestell are particularly poignant when viewing The Earth is Born. He said, "Chesley is the original Kilroy – he's been there ahead of them all. Neil Armstrong? Well, Tranquility Base was established over Bonestell's tracks and discarded squeezed-out paint tubes. The man not only moves across space, but also across time. He was present at our world's birth and has also set up his easel to paint its death..." (quoted in Miller, The Art of Space, Zenith Press, 2014, p.26).
14 1/8 x 28 7/8 in. (35.9 x 73.3 cm.)
Mixed media on board
Provenance
Charles Barbely, Planetarium Officer of the Smithsonian Institution, 1976-1978.
Norman Jacobs, Starlog Collection; Heritage Auctions, Dallas, 17 October 2014, lot 72004.
Acquired at the above sale by the late owner.
Norman Jacobs, Starlog Collection; Heritage Auctions, Dallas, 17 October 2014, lot 72004.
Acquired at the above sale by the late owner.
Literature
Lincoln Barnett, "The Earth is Born," Life magazine, 8 December 1952, color illustrated on the front cover (Schuetz 76).
Ron Miller and Frederick C. Durant III, The Art of Chesley Bonestell (London, 2001), p.81.
Ron Miller and Frederick C. Durant III, The Art of Chesley Bonestell (London, 2001), p.81.
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