Picture cosmonauts-художников
ARTinvestment.RU   31 марта 2016

To cosmonautics Day on April 12. About painting by Russian cosmonaut Alexei Leonov, Vladimir Dzhanibekov and American astronaut Alan Bina

Cosmonauts @the mdas people-настоящему heroic profession — is difficult to imagine in philosophical thought, with brush at the easel. It is understandable. Space — harsh world, not forgiving the person of any error in orbit or on earth, requiring extreme rationality. But for a few who visited him, the space — is also a fantastic emotion, a very special experience, an internal dialogue with eternity alone with boundless universe. Perhaps that is why the astronauts and take up the brush. And not without success: in the table, and with albums, books, exhibitions, museums. That's about these astronauts-художниках will be discussed.

the Most famous artist among astronauts since the 1960-х, — is, of course, Alexei Arkhipovich Leonov (1934). Twice Hero of the Soviet Union (just over two gold stars, the astronauts were not given), the first man in open space (at the time, miraculously not lost in an emergency situation), tough, more than once looked death in the eye. Together with Gagarin, he requested his participation in a manned expedition to the moon (never held). But Leonov and not severe character, while charming, smiling man, a favorite of the residents of Star city. His book "solar wind", decorated with his own drawings and paintings, was among many Soviet schoolchildren. In those days education spared no money.

Leonov — artist impression, which is important, not perfection graphic and photographic, and a fantastic palette and the ethereal kind which he witnessed with his own eyes. Aboard Leonov was able to bring colored pencils, so many of the works are based on sketches made on Board the stations. Not accidentally one of his best paintings was "the terminator" (zone day and night), where there are no astronauts, no spacecraft of the future — one only nature in all its perfection.

Leonov painted the picture as himself, and together with Andrei Konstantinovich Sokolov (1931-2007) from the mid 1960-х. Paintings by Leonov and Sokolov many times published, and one of their series of paintings formed the basis of the design of a series of postage stamps "15 years of the space age" 1972.

Leonov's Paintings are in museums, participate in exhibitions, thrice exhibited at the auctions. The highest price was registered at Sotheby's in 1996. Then his five-foot canvas with the launch of the "Union-19" was sold for $9 200.

Paintings by co-author Leonov — artist Andrei Sokolov was put up for auction several times and relatively recently. space-the falcons had no direct relationship, but in the space of painting was one of the pioneers. An architect by training (his father, incidentally, built the Baikonur cosmodrome), Sokolov 1957 started painting on the space theme, with science-фантастическим bias. Fantast Ivan Efremov dedicated to him the story "Five paintings" — quite reactionary, criticizing in keeping with the spirit of the time abstract and uplifting artists working with themes of space and future space exploration. Efremov "Russian Falcon" — accidentally found "the only Russian artist of the cosmos, created in the beginning of the space age", — is Sokolov. His paintings are inspired not only Ephraim. In the biographies of Andrei Konstantinovich, you can read what it is under the influence of his painting "Elevator to Space" Arthur C. Clarke wrote the book "Fountains of Paradise". It is quite possible. And the picture, and the idea for-прежнему impress. Sokolov paintings are now available for purchase at the gallery market. And just a month ago one of his paintings, "Sakhalin from space" (1980) was sold at auction "Russian enamel" 90 000 rubles.

Another Russian cosmonaut, focusing on painting, — Vladimir Aleksandrovich Dzhanibekov (1942). A brave man, a professional of the highest class and very clever. Made five expeditions, twice Hero of the Soviet Union. Dzhanibekov was sent into the Inferno, the most difficult and risky tasks. In 1985, Dzhanibekov and Savinykh were sent to restore the lost control and inoperative station "Salyut-7". Coupled with her visual and manual mode, no automation. Went in, repaired, as a result, the station continued its work.

Vladimir Dzhanibekov draws and writes not only the space, although the space scenes he encountered often. But if you look it up selected works on the official website, it becomes clear that it is rather not interested in the technological side of space exploration, and man, and philosophical questions of the universe. Dzhanibekov — a member of the Union of artists, in 2012 he was accepted into the art Association "Mitki".

On the auction market Dzhanibekov painting was exhibited only once — in 2015, Berlin's Auctionata auction. Then his canvas "Cosmonaut" (1984) was sold for $455.

For our astronauts painting —, it is rather an internal necessity, they aren't exactly art for a living. But their overseas counterpart and manages to earn his civil passion. American astronaut Alan Bean (1939) in 1969 he participated in the landing on the moon in the crew of Apollo 12. He walked the surface of Earth's satellite, and collected soil samples in the Ocean of Storms.

Retired from NASA in 1981, Alan Bean chose not usual for retirees political career, and devoted himself entirely to painting. Its main theme, of course, became a lunar landscape, the astronauts, in their spacesuits, working on the surface of the moon. His works are exhibited by the museums for relevant exhibitions space, gallery sell, and their price level is about $45 000. The only auction sales for paintings by Alan Bina registered in 2007. Mid-size acrylic with the image of an astronaut working on the moon, was sold on the American auction New Orleans for $38 400. Auctions also sold his large lithographs (about $500) and photos taken during the lunar expeditions ($300–$1000 USD.).

Here they are — space artists.

And, on this occasion: cosmonauts, astronauts, engineers, scientists, doctors, all professionals involved in space programs, and all their hurts, — on a holiday! On the cosmonautics day! 55-летием of Gagarin's flight, which we celebrate in 2016!

Vladimir Bogdanov, AI