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a multipanelled oil painting
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I had wanted to paint a Polyptych Altarpiece for a long time, but to make it contemporary seemed a problem. It dawned on me (with a little help from Marina Warner's book 'Alone of All Her Sex'), that the central figure of Mary in many an altarpiece was a symbol of the Earth Mother Goddess, and could be updated by an image of the planet Earth seen from space. The rest followed from that idea. I used Sassetta's St.Francis Altarpiece as a prototype. It's shape, composition and subject matter all fed into my Astronaut paintings. |
Working drawing ink on paper. |
Astronauts on the moon | |
 detail, oil on board 64cm by 42cm. |
A kneeling devotional astronaut talks to his collegue about the sight of Mother Earth appearing over the lunar horizon. The lunar vehicle is parked between two craters. |
Pilot meets scientist | |
 detail, oil on board 21cm by 31cm. |
Navel pilots were the first spacecraft test pilots. Here one greets a space scientist. Floating above is the dream of the space shuttle carrying an orbiting heavenly city. |
Lamenting friend | |
 detail, oil on board 21cm by 31cm. | The friend of a chosen pilot is held back as the pilot disappears into the laboratory building. |
Gravity machine | |
 detail, oil on board 21cm by 31cm. | Astronauts rejoice as they test out a gravity free machine. |
A dog in space | |
 detail, oil on board 21cm by 31cm. | A St. Francis like astronaut mets the dog Lieka, that is about to be sent up into space. |
Astronaut meets the President | |
 detail, oil on board 21cm by 31cm. | Political endorsement of the project. |
There's the cosmonaut | |
 detail, oil on board 21cm by 31cm. | Political rivalry speeds up the space programme. |
Whatching the moon landing on TV | |
 detail, oil on board 21cm by 31cm. | As the first man steps on the moon the President, Vice President and a dog share the moment with the rest of us. |
Challenger expoldes | |
 detail, oil on board 21cm by 31cm. | A significant disaster and the end of an era. |
© Yair Meshoulam 1997