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Directory: Popular Collectibles: Nostalgia: Transportation: Pre 1980: Item # 1416470

Please refer to our stock # JB0594 when inquiring.

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Jon Berg Fine Art and More
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2311 Schader Dr. #310
Santa Monica, CA 90404
310-453-5620

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This is one unusual painting.........40" by 57" (with frame a whopping 46 1/2" by 64"), oil on masonite, signed at lower right by HIGHLY IMPORTANT, INTERNATIONALLY RENOWNED aviation artist R.G. (Robert Grant) Smith. This painting belongs in a museum, and I welcome institution inquiries. The subject is monumental.........the Douglas DC-8, DC-9 and DC-10 jet aircraft, flying in formation through puffy clouds. The painting, I understood from the source from whom I acquired it, once hung in the executive offices of McDonnell Douglas in Long Beach, California. (More recently, a retired gentleman who worked at engineering building #35 at the Long Beach facility in the early/mid 1970's said it hung prominently in the lobby there). I imagine that Douglas would have commissioned it back in the early seventies. It is dated 1971, not long after the debut of wide body aircraft, including the DC-10. See the net for much more information about this artist. He is considered the master of American aviation art. A hard cover book, "The Man and His Work, R.G. Smith", was published. This exact work is included in the book, (to be included with the painting), where it appears on page 74. Smith began working for Douglas Aircraft in the thirties as an engineer. Well acquainted with both military and civilian aircraft, he taught himself to paint in his spare time. Eventually he became extremely well known for his depiction of aircraft and the sky in which they fly. When Smith passed away in 2001, the Los Angeles Times devoted 1/2 page to his obituary. Today there is a permanent display of his works in the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum (near the Apollo moon exhibits, I understand). Smith's paintings hang in the hallways of the Pentagon and at the National Museum of Naval Aviation in Pensacola, Florida, and in distinguished collections in the US and abroad. This is a very rare opportunity to acquire an extremely important piece of aviation history. The painting is in excellent condition. Due to the extreme dimensions of the work, shipping could be challenging, though not impossible. I would suggest that the buyer contact professional shipping companies on this one. Local buyers welcomed. Please call me to discuss this most unusual, museum-quality painting.