ASTRONAUT TURNED ARTIST

Alan Bean of Apollo 12

Although having not pursued his artistic career in earnest until he was nearly 50 years old, Alan LaVern Bean left a lasting impression in the art world as the revered astronaut-turned-artist.

Bean was born March 15, 1932 in north Texas, and although his family moved often due to his father’s role as an agricultural scientist, they remained in the state throughout his childhood. He grew up near different air bases and became enamored with aviation. With an earned scholarship, Bean was able to pursue his childhood dream and completed a Bachelor of Science degree in Aeronautical Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin in 1955. He was commissioned by the Navy shortly after graduation and a year later earned his naval aviator wings. By 1960 Bean had graduated from the US Naval Test

Pilot School, where he flew as a test pilot for several types of military and civilian aircraft, logging thousands of hours of Earth-bound flight. It was during this time in Maryland that he was also enrolled at St. Mary’s College, where he took a few entry-level art classes, including drawing, watercolor, and oil painting.

After initial rejection, Bean was selected by NASA to join the astronaut program in 1963. And, at the insistence of Pete Conrad, whom Bean had previously trained under, the two were selected alongside veteran astronaut Richard Gordon for the second manned lunar mission – Apollo 12. Slated for November 1969, just four months following the first moon landing, this mission intended to correct mistakes made the first time around, including the miscalculated landing site. They were also equipped to take more lunar samples back to Earth and install the first nuclear power generator station on the moon. Bean became the fourth man to walk on the moon in November 1969, spending 31 hours and 31 minutes on the moon’s surface. While performing their designated tasks, Conrad and Bean also planned to use a self-timer attachment to their camera in an attempt to confuse and surprise the command team with a photo of the two together. Unfortunately, the timer was not found until after they had completed the mission and the photo was not taken. But, one of Bean’s most well-known pieces was meant to emulate what that photo would have looked like, titled The Fabulous Photo We Never Took . As well as a means to record history, Bean utilized his art to capture what wasn’t, painting works such as Tracy’s Boulder . This piece depicted Apollo 17’s Gene Cernan’s lunar walk, where he described to Bean his wish to have written his daughter’s name into the lunar dust. So, with his artistic liberty, Bean painted a panoramic scene showing what Cernan meant to leave behind.

As an astronaut, Bean established 11 world records in space and astronautics. His second and final space flight for the Skylab 3 mission (1973) spanned a record 59 days across 24.4 million miles. He also received two NASA and two Navy Distinguished Service Medals as well as the Navy Astronaut Wings.

With 18 years as a NASA member under his belt, Bean retired in 1981 to become a fulltime artist. He wanted to utilize his unique first-hand experience in space to create art that otherwise, in his eyes, could not be made. He has noted that “[his] role as an artist is not to duplicate nature but to interpret it in ways that are beautiful and important[.]” Bean decided that he wanted to make interesting the otherwise monotonous grey landscape of the moon, stating, “I had to figure out a way to add color to the Moon without ruining it.” His use of added, unnatural hues became more refined and intensified further in his career. He cites Claude Monet as a source of inspiration, referring to the artist’s impressionistic inclusion of vivid colors. He has noted, “If I were a scientist painting the moon, I would paint it gray. I’m an artist, so I can add colors to the Moon.”

It was July 2009, the 40 th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission, that Bean exhibited his work at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Air and Space Museum in Washington D.C. Today, his works remain on display alongside articles from the mission. Collections of his are viewable at different galleries across the nation.

Unique Technique

As his career progressed, Bean wanted to futher connect his works to the far away world he was recreating. He would texturize the surface of his art boards, which were made from plywood used in airplane construction, with a thick modeling medium, emulating the rugged terrain and uneven edges. Pictured top left is his hammer that was used on the moon as well as a cast of his boot, which he would wield to recreate his unique “lunar” texture. Moondust taken from keepsake items would be mixed into the modeling medium to give each work a physical connection to the Ocean of Storms.