The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), US, has announced the launch of a new book, NASA/ART - 50 Years of Exploration, to mark the agency's 50th anniversary in October.
NASA/ART - 50 Years of Exploration is a historic collection of almost a half-century of space-inspired artwork. In 1962, four years after NASA was founded, Administrator James E. Webb recognised space exploration would make a profound cultural impact, in addition to advancing science and technology. He established the NASA Art Program to commission pieces from prominent artists that would illustrate and interpret the space agency's missions. Since that time, the art programme has enjoyed the participation of such luminaries as Robert Rauschenberg, Norman Rockwell, James Wyeth, Nam June Paik, Patti LaBelle, William Wegman, Mike and Doug Starn, and Annie Leibovitz.
Co-authored by James Dean and Ulrich, the book contains 150 full colour illustrations with essays by astronaut Michael Collins, curator Tom D. Crouch and novelist Ray Bradbury. The book, published by Harry N. Abrams, Inc., New York, will be available in October. It is a companion to the Smithsonian traveling art exhibition drawn from the collections of NASA and the National Air and Space Museum, which features 73 works by some of America's leading artists.
