American Historical Ephemera and Photography Featuring the Civil War and American Militaria Collection of Bruce B. Hermann

Acrylic on canvas, visible area 27 1/2 x 16 in., framed (unexamined out of frame). Provenance: Sold Sotheby's New York, 29 November 2018, sale N09897, lot 8.

Andrei Sokolov, inspired by Chesley Bonestell's 1944 "Saturn, Viewed from Titan," depicts a mobile space station on Saturn's largest moon, and includes cosmonauts who are preparing to launch a mission to study the rings of Saturn in his painting. Sokolov, one of the most important artists documenting Russian space flight and history, was born in Leningrad in 1931, and originally trained as an architect.  He developed an interest in science fiction at Moscow State University and was particularly affected by the flight of Sputnik. He was chosen by the USSR to graphically depict the Soviet space program in a way that was accessible to the public.