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Author
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Topic: AA: Michael Collins "Forty Years Later" series
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Spacefest
Member Posts: 1168
From: Tucson, AZ
Registered: Jan 2009
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posted 05-15-2009 12:04 AM
   
Now on Astro-Auction:"FORTY YEARS LATER": Though Mike Collins tries to fight it, he can't escape the past. He recently made his first trip to the Cape in many years.
He was moved to create a magnum opus - a series of 6 full-size (22x30) watercolors of various scenes, for the fortieth anniversary. Two are showing now.  |
Dennis Beatty
Member Posts: 388
From:
Registered: Jan 2000
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posted 05-15-2009 05:33 AM
Any chance that the series will be released as limited edition prints? |
Spacefest
Member Posts: 1168
From: Tucson, AZ
Registered: Jan 2009
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posted 05-15-2009 04:15 PM
Not even considered until originals sold (one so far). Giclees possible then, but will be $500 or more. |
Spacefest
Member Posts: 1168
From: Tucson, AZ
Registered: Jan 2009
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posted 05-15-2009 05:32 PM
All remaining paintings in the series posted now. Even the most expensive is still 3% of a Bean painting. This is the closest Mike has come to painting his memories of Apollo 11. He's perfectly and uniquely capable but needs some encouragement. |
AJ
Member Posts: 511
From: Plattsburgh, NY, United States
Registered: Feb 2009
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posted 05-16-2009 02:38 PM
I have a giclee of The Real McKoi and have this to say to potential buyers of Collins' art: do it. do it now. When The Real McKoi arrived at my house, I stared at it for probably fifteen minutes. the colors are incredibly beautiful and as good as the online images are, they cannot compare to the actual piece. If I had piles of money, I'd buy just about anything Collins paints. |
stsmithva
Member Posts: 2105
From: Fairfax, VA
Registered: Feb 2007
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posted 05-16-2009 03:09 PM
My favorite of this new series is the one of Pad 34. Maybe the word "poignant" gets thrown around too much, but this painting fits the bill. Is that the Apollo 1 memorial plaque visible on the support to the right? I don't know where it is on the structure. Would someone mind describing what the other paintings show? One is, I believe, the view from within the flame deflectors at Pad 34. What is the large dome, and the antenna complex? And is that patio significant? |
Spacefest
Member Posts: 1168
From: Tucson, AZ
Registered: Jan 2009
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posted 05-16-2009 10:47 PM
In the auction descriptions, Steve. |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 53389
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 05-16-2009 10:54 PM
The individual auction descriptions offer some insight into the identity of the scenes (on edit: as Kim wrote), but yes, lot 1243812617 is of Pad 34 as it appears today, from the perspective of standing behind the flame deflectors. - The large dome (1243153393) is described as an "old Gemini blockhouse" (it looks to be the Complex 19 blockhouse).
- The antenna complex (1243163560) is described as a "lightning protector array near a launchpad" (my guess is that it is Complex 40, where SpaceX is preparing to launch their Falcon 9, but it might also be Complex 41 where the Atlas launches).
- The patio (1243808468) is described as the "deck of the famous Astronaut Beach House", which is self-explanatory.
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stsmithva
Member Posts: 2105
From: Fairfax, VA
Registered: Feb 2007
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posted 05-17-2009 07:51 AM
That's the second time in a week I didn't read something carefully enough before posting. Sheesh.Now the "astronaut beach house" patio is my second-favorite. I believe there is a long scene on it in "From the Earth to the Moon"- probably Apollo 7. Here is a photo of it, taken from pretty much the opposite vantage point - looking towards the patio and house. Here's a quick little article about it from Florida Today posted today, by a strange coincidence: An unassuming, two-story house built in 1962 as part of the Neptune Beach subdivision still sits on the pristine beach among the launch pads at Cape Canaveral. |
hlbjr
Member Posts: 583
From: Delray Beach Florida USA
Registered: Mar 2006
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posted 05-18-2009 02:06 PM
I just saw this posting today and I jumped on two of Collins' watercolors, the one of Pad 34 from behind the flame deflectors and the one of the Pad 19 blockhouse, with the rusting gantry in the distance. Those pieces both moved me. |
Spacefest
Member Posts: 1168
From: Tucson, AZ
Registered: Jan 2009
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posted 05-19-2009 05:39 PM
Only two left. All have sold with "instant purchase." Mike says he has been monitoring the auction.Kim Poor |
ilbasso
Member Posts: 1527
From: Greensboro, NC USA
Registered: Feb 2006
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posted 05-19-2009 06:16 PM
I only wish I had the funds available to jump on one of these now. They're truly amazing works and they tell an incredible story. As with all things, Mike is overly modest in talking about his formidable skills as an artist! |
AJ
Member Posts: 511
From: Plattsburgh, NY, United States
Registered: Feb 2009
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posted 05-19-2009 07:17 PM
Ahhh, but in this day and age, I think it's refreshing for someone with a true gift, as I feel he has, to be modest. I think it's part of his charm and he definitely lets his paintings speak for themselves. |
hlbjr
Member Posts: 583
From: Delray Beach Florida USA
Registered: Mar 2006
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posted 05-20-2009 06:33 AM
If General Collins is monitoring this discussion, then I am formally inviting him to stop in to my insurance agency here in Delray Beach someday to see his two framed watercolors (Pad 36 from behind the flame deflectors and the Pad 19 blockhouse) hanging on the wall (UV protected and on acid free mats of course). Anytime will be fine! I can show him photos of my dad with his Sabrejet during the Korean War! I am really happy he painted these watercolors and the proof is the fact this is the first space art I've ever purchased and while the fact he was the artist was pretty cool, it was the works themselves that sold me. Thanks! Harvey Brown
Delray Beach, FL |
Spacefest
Member Posts: 1168
From: Tucson, AZ
Registered: Jan 2009
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posted 05-20-2009 12:11 PM
One left now. |
hlbjr
Member Posts: 583
From: Delray Beach Florida USA
Registered: Mar 2006
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posted 05-28-2009 03:23 PM
Just received my 2 framed watercolors today. They sure are pretty. One of my clients looking at the Pad 34 framed between the 2 flame deflectors asked "what is that?!" When I told him, he was impressed but I still don't think he knows what he was looking at! Mike signed the paintings and had a roman numeral to denote which painting in the series each was. It's kind of amazing that the same guy who flew around the moon and wrote that great book I read 25 years or so ago (Carrying The Fire) painted these watercolors. Harvey Brown
Delray Beach, FL |
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