Bonestell’s Brilliance
master of perspective, and those who really know astro-
nomical art are still dazzled today by how he did things.
Although he seemed to have had trouble with mathematics
when he went to Columbia University, something clicked
later on because he was able to take Wernher von Braun’s
calculations and convert them into technically accurate
paintings that depicted what spaceships would look like and
how they would perform. Everything about what he did can
be traced back to his architectural background and that
fantastic artistic talent he was blessed with.”
Bonestell remained an avid amateur astronomer, hence the
drive to portray our solar system and the technology of space
exploration on canvas. According to Miller, Bonestell was
infl uenced by a number of his peers, most specifi cally French
scientist and illustrator Lucien Rudaux, who shared Bonestell’s
passion for stargazing.
“As an astronomer, Rudaux was highly regarded enough
that there is a crater on Mars named after him,” Miller says.
“Rudaux brought a sense of matter-of-fact realism to space
art that I think appealed to Bonestell, who owned Rudaux’s
books. There were others who worked in space art, but nobody
really paid much attention to the accuracy or the reality ofpAN EYE FOR MODERNISM New York architect William Van Alen
hired Bonestell to work on designs for what was meant to be a 40-story
hotel at 405 Lexington Avenue. The plans for the hotel were abandoned
in favor of those for a tall offi ce building, and Bonestell soon became
involved with the design of one of the world’s best-known skyscrapers,
the Chrysler Building. Working with the artist Warren Straton, Bonestell
designed the Art Deco façade and the sharp-beaked eagles that project
from the corners of the building’s 61st fl oor.62 SEPTEMBER 2019 • SKY & TELESCOPE
the landscapes. Rudaux brought his knowledge to it and that
set his work apart. His paintings had a naturalism to them.”
Indeed, on occasion Rudaux’s works were even more
scientifi cally accurate than Bonestell’s efforts. Miller points
to Rudaux’s paintings of the lunar surface, which look very
much like Apollo landscapes. “Rudaux explains in one of his
books, with diagrams, why he made the mountains kind ofqSTEEP AND SHARP Bonestell’s paintings of the lunar surface fea-
tured tall, craggy mountains and craters with razorlike rims.CHRYSL
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