Topic: Apollo 15: van Hoeydonck's Fallen Astronaut
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 42981 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 12-16-2013 09:14 AM
Slate has a fascinating article out today about the memorial sculpture left on the moon by the Apollo 15 crew.
At 12:18 a.m. Greenwich Mean Time on Aug. 2, 1971, Commander David Scott of Apollo 15 placed a 3 1/2-inch-tall aluminum sculpture onto the dusty surface of a small crater near his parked lunar rover. At that moment the moon transformed from an airless ball of rock into the largest exhibition space in the known universe. Scott regarded the moment as tribute to the heroic astronauts and cosmonauts who had given their lives in the space race. Van Hoeydonck was thrilled that his art was pointing the way to a human destiny beyond Earth and expected that he would soon be "bigger than Picasso."
In reality, van Hoeydonck's lunar sculpture, called Fallen Astronaut, inspired not celebration but scandal. Within three years, Waddell's gallery had gone bankrupt. Scott was hounded by a congressional investigation and left NASA on shaky terms. Van Hoeydonck, accused of profiteering from the public space program, retreated to a modest career in his native Belgium. Now both in their 80s, Scott and van Hoeydonck still see themselves unfairly maligned in blogs and Wikipedia pages — to the extent that Fallen Astronaut is remembered at all...
Here, for the first time, we tell the full, tangled tale behind one of the smallest yet most extraordinary achievements of the Space Age.
GACspaceguy Member
Posts: 2474 From: Guyton, GA Registered: Jan 2006
posted 12-16-2013 02:14 PM
Just read the article and it is well worth the read, very interesting.
Teacher in space Member
Posts: 71 From: Registered: Sep 2013
posted 12-17-2013 12:04 AM
Interresting, but a bit sad story.
mode1charlie Member
Posts: 1169 From: Honolulu, HI Registered: Sep 2010
posted 12-17-2013 02:40 AM
I knew the broad outlines of this story before, but not the richness of detail in the essay. Very interesting.
I was also very surprised to learn that Apollo 16 and 17 came very close to being cancelled by Nixon in August 1971, and were saved mainly through the intervention of Caspar Weinberger, who was WH Budget Director at the time.
Philip Member
Posts: 5952 From: Brussels, Belgium Registered: Jan 2001
posted 12-17-2013 07:04 AM
It's a beautiful piece of art...
At the 2012 Space Week meeting of the STS-45 crew in Belgium, Artist Paul Van Hoeydonck offered a "Fallen Astronaut" to the dean of Liège University.
I believe a limited number of these art pieces were offered during an art exhibition in New York at $750 a piece.
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 42981 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 12-17-2013 07:18 AM
quote:Originally posted by Philip: I believe a limited number of these art pieces were offered during an art exhibition in New York at $750 a piece.
The Slate article includes the history behind this sale and why they were not well received (by NASA, by the astronauts or by the art crowd in New York).
ea757grrl Member
Posts: 729 From: South Carolina Registered: Jul 2006
posted 12-17-2013 07:30 AM
Many thanks for the link, Robert. I knew the broad outlines of the story, but the detail in the Slate piece was just marvelous. Thanks for an excellent read on a long December's night.
spaced out Member
Posts: 3110 From: Paris, France Registered: Aug 2003
posted 12-17-2013 09:25 AM
It's a nice article.
Reading it now I find it difficult to believe that people really thought the artist would be happy to remain anonymous after the event, even if 'only' for a year.
I would say anyone who creates something is likely to want some recognition for their creation, it's just human nature. A proud artist with an ego to match is very unlikely to sit back and stay quiet when he is the creator of the 'first art on another planet'.
Making examples of the sculpture for sale was clearly against the spirit of the original agreement but it sounds like this came about as a reaction to his failing to get the recognition he felt he deserved, rather than being the intention of the artist from the beginning.
In this respect it's quite different to the Seiger covers issue but behind both messes seems to be a common thread of naivety on the part of Scott.
My impression is that he treated these people as if they were honor-bound military types when clearly they lived in a different world.
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 42981 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 12-17-2013 09:36 AM
How many of the Apollo patch artists sought out publicity, or even recognition, for designing the emblems? For the most part, they never profited or benefited from their art, though they certainly took the same pride in seeing it flown to the surface of the moon.
What I found most interesting about the Slate article was that despite their access to van Hoeydonck, it did not paint the artist in a favorable light.
spaced out Member
Posts: 3110 From: Paris, France Registered: Aug 2003
posted 12-17-2013 10:24 AM
Indeed he comes across as egotistical, but that's my point. Who could be surprised that an artist with that character would want the world to know of his amazing achievement (as he would see it)?
Teacher in space Member
Posts: 71 From: Registered: Sep 2013
posted 12-17-2013 01:51 PM
I think the biggest problem was that the astronauts did not understand what the artist wanted to express with his artwork. They changed it to something else. For artist's point of view his work was not completed before he could tell to audience what he wanted to express when making this sculpture.
Illustration artwork (patch designs could be like that) is mentally very different to do than art. That's why you can't compare this sculptor to patch artists.
Philip Member
Posts: 5952 From: Brussels, Belgium Registered: Jan 2001
posted 12-18-2013 02:18 AM
It's an amazing story and Belgian artist Paul Van Hoeydonck (who regularly signed books at exhibitions) will for ever be associated with the "Fallen Astronaut."
A few months ago a poster of the New York exhibition came up for sale on eBay. Here a Fallen Astronaut in some kind of presentation box.
Philip Member
Posts: 5952 From: Brussels, Belgium Registered: Jan 2001
posted 12-18-2013 08:59 AM
Good overview of space art publications on the official website of Paul Van Hoeydonck.
chet Member
Posts: 1506 From: Beverly Hills, Calif. Registered: Nov 2000
posted 12-18-2013 02:44 PM
The article was a very interesting read.
As for the left-on-the-moon sculpture itself, I can't disagree with the "glorified tuning fork" description of it. Wasn't my cup of tea, but it did cleanly, neatly, simply fulfill its purpose of representing fallen astronauts, I suppose.
KSCartist Member
Posts: 2896 From: Titusville, FL USA Registered: Feb 2005
posted 12-18-2013 05:48 PM
I read the article with great interest. It surprises me that the intention of Scott was not communicated clearly with van Hoeydonck. Nor was the symbolism behind the sculpture. The artist intended it to be a positive celebration of man kinds achievement. Scott intended it to be a memorial.
I think if Scott had announced who had created the piece when he announced its existence, it might have gone a long way to soothing bruised egos. Since he was not paid for the work, he deserved to be credited as more than a "workman."
As an artist who has had the pleasure of donating time and talent to NASA crews, my "pay off" is the memory of working with my heroes. I strongly agree that every patch artist deserves public credit for their work - from Cece Bibby to Blake Dumesnil.
Philip Member
Posts: 5952 From: Brussels, Belgium Registered: Jan 2001
posted 03-25-2015 06:27 AM
ESS-member (Euro Space Society) Danny Van Hoecke presented a 360 degree panoramic photo collage of the lunar surface around the Fallen Astronaut to Belgian artist Paul Van Hoeydonck. This panoramic view was signed by Belgian astronaut Dirk Frimout and the artist was delighted to add this to his archives.
toddmp Member
Posts: 55 From: Registered: Jan 2014
posted 04-15-2015 04:09 PM
It always appeared to me that the one on the moon has a different shape than any duplicate here on earth, particularly the legs.
Philip Member
Posts: 5952 From: Brussels, Belgium Registered: Jan 2001
posted 04-22-2015 09:42 AM
That's correct, the original on the Moon seems to wear a parachute wingsuit.
toddmp Member
Posts: 55 From: Registered: Jan 2014
posted 04-22-2015 02:04 PM
I just recently got a response from the artist (via his secretary). He states there is no difference from the one on the moon and the one he offered to museums (and attempted to offer retail). Could this really be a trick of the light on the moon?
heng44 Member
Posts: 3386 From: Netherlands Registered: Nov 2001
posted 05-17-2015 01:23 PM
When I made a painting of the Fallen Astronaut recently I noticed that the replicas are not exactly the same as the real thing. Especially the legs are slightly different, as the original has an extra sort of 'connection' between the legs.
Philip Member
Posts: 5952 From: Brussels, Belgium Registered: Jan 2001
posted 05-18-2015 04:04 AM
It looks like 5 or 6 different figurines were tested... Anyway there's an art exhibition with PVH's work called "Arstronomy" in Madrid, Spain from 13th May to 30th August 2015.
Apolloman Member
Posts: 148 From: Ledignan, Gard (30), France Registered: Mar 2009
posted 05-24-2015 03:37 AM
About the "Fallen Astronaut" sculpture, personally, last weekend I went to retrieve from the Hadley landing site...
Joking aside, the sculpture is a scale replica made by a good friend whose website here.
Philip Member
Posts: 5952 From: Brussels, Belgium Registered: Jan 2001
posted 06-14-2015 03:34 AM
Did he also create the box?
Apolloman Member
Posts: 148 From: Ledignan, Gard (30), France Registered: Mar 2009
posted 06-14-2015 10:01 AM
Yes, by recycling boxes that originally contained a DVD and a booklet provided by the CNES.
Philip Member
Posts: 5952 From: Brussels, Belgium Registered: Jan 2001
posted 09-06-2015 11:19 AM
Euro Space Society member Danny Van Hoecke interviewed Belgian artist Paul Van Hoeydonck on the "Fallen Astronaut," a 45 year history.
Philip Member
Posts: 5952 From: Brussels, Belgium Registered: Jan 2001
posted 04-17-2016 07:32 AM
President Nixon approved the idea.
Philip Member
Posts: 5952 From: Brussels, Belgium Registered: Jan 2001
posted 09-21-2016 06:51 AM
Video tribute to Belgian artist Paul Van Hoeydonck (1925) in the "Born in Antwerp" series:
Philip Member
Posts: 5952 From: Brussels, Belgium Registered: Jan 2001
posted 01-30-2019 03:28 AM
In order to commemorate half a century since Belgian artist Paul Van Hoeydonck developed the idea to put an artwork on the moon, the Belgian artist started a cooperation with German art galery Breckner in Düsseldorf.
In 1969, Van Hoeydonck had the idea to make an artwork representing mankind going into space, symbolized by a human figurine floating upwards in a blue plexiglass cylinder. However shortly before the Apollo 15 launch date, NASA informed that plexiglass wasn't allowed so Van Hoeydonck had to settle for a loose figurine, which would become the "Fallen Astronaut" in August 1971.
For the 50th anniversary, van Hoeydonck makes 1971 copies of his original artwork, the figurine floating in blue plexiglass, available for the general public. Moreover, larger size aluminium figurines (44 cm and man-size 180 cm) are made available for museums and art galleries.
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 42981 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
A Belgian artist who saw his creation left on the moon as a tribute to fallen astronauts has now realized his original vision for the statuette.
Paul van Hoeydonck, working with the Breckner Gallery in Düsseldorf, Germany, has recreated his 1969 concept for a celebration of humanity rising into space — a small aluminum figure floating inside a piece of tinted blue acrylic. With a limited run of 1,971 signed and numbered pieces, the artwork marks the 50th anniversary of his idea, which, modified to meet NASA's requirements, became a memorial to the explorers who had given their lives in the pursuit of space exploration.
davidcwagner Member
Posts: 798 From: Albuquerque, New Mexico Registered: Jan 2003
posted 02-01-2019 06:40 PM
Our good friend Ed Hengeveld has a great and reasonably priced "Man of the Moon" canvas print showing Dave Scott's spacesuit glove/checklist and the Fallen Astronaut on the moon.
Philip Member
Posts: 5952 From: Brussels, Belgium Registered: Jan 2001
posted 02-02-2019 09:36 AM
There's even a second EH Space Art "Fallen Astronaut" painting showing the figurine/artwork in the lunar regolith at Scott's overshoes...
The PVH plexiglass looks amazing in real life, pity it isn't a cylinder shape as initially intended!
posted 03-01-2019 01:35 AM
Fallen Astronaut - Man on the Moon - Man in Space - Apollo 15 Hadley Base.
Rick Mulheirn Member
Posts: 4167 From: England Registered: Feb 2001
posted 03-01-2019 06:58 AM
Loved the video presentation Danny. Great job!
Philip Member
Posts: 5952 From: Brussels, Belgium Registered: Jan 2001
posted 03-04-2019 04:57 AM
Excellent Danny... congrats on your excellent photo showing Paul Van Hoeydonck against the backdrop of Antwerp cathedral and thanks again for sharing this great PVH presentation!
Rick Mulheirn Member
Posts: 4167 From: England Registered: Feb 2001
posted 03-04-2019 08:38 AM
Danny, did you consider adding a soundtrack, commentary or contemporaneous audio recording of some sort?: the icing on the cake so to speak.
Philip Member
Posts: 5952 From: Brussels, Belgium Registered: Jan 2001
posted 10-03-2019 02:55 AM
"The Fallen Astronaut," a documentary film by Frank Herrebout and Leo van Maaren, coming out this month.
posted 12-16-2013 09:14 AM
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