Signed, Framed Watercolor of Columbia Shuttle by Walter S. Taylor

Item Details

A signed, framed watercolor depicting the first Columbia space shuttle before launch at Cape Kennedy Space Center on April 12, 1981. The caption reads ‘Painted on Location without Photographs’. It is inscribed on the front left bottom corner ‘To Jane Minton’ and signed on the front right bottom corner ‘Walter S. Taylor ’84 NASA’. The painting features the Columbia shuttle amid the launch towers on the pad, presumably just before launch. Rapid brush strokes in various different directions are not only characteristic of the impromptu style of the artist, but serve to capture the activity surrounding the launch and the excitement in the air. Fine vertical red lines above the nose of the shuttle blur outward and upward, suggesting the speed, thrust, direction, and inevitable smoky wake of the launch itself. A dynamic and energetic work, matted and framed in, appropriately, sky blue. Taped to the back of the piece is an article from the Wall Street Journal 1986 about the artist, Walter S. Taylor, a winemaker and regional celebrity in his own right.

Condition

Slight buckling and yellowing of paper where the art meets the mat.

Dimensions

Item #

14COL011-339