Robert McCall: Celebrating One Hundred Years of Powered Flight October 16 to December 14, 2003 Marsh Art Gallery, University of Richmond Museums On October 16, 2003, the Marsh Art Gallery, University of Richmond Museums, will open Robert McCall: Celebrating 100 Years of Powered Flight. Widely known as the world’s premiere space artist, Robert McCall (American, born 1919) has painted murals for NASA, EPCOT Center in Disneyworld, and the Smithsonian Institution’s National Air and Space Museum. Organized to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Wright brothers’ flight in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, this exhibition will feature paintings, prints, and works on paper by Robert McCall and will remain on view through December 14, 2003. Science writer Isaac Asimov once called McCall, “. . .the nearest thing to an artist in residence from outer space.” McCall began his lifelong focus on aerospace themes as a free-lance illustrator for Life magazine in the early 1960s. He later designed patches worn by astronauts on several missions and space-themed stamps for the U.S. Postal Service. McCall created artwork for Stanley Kubrick’s 1968 movie 2001: A Space Odyssey and for Walt Disney’s 1979 space thriller, The Black Hole, as well as art for the 1977 Star Wars movie and 1979 Star Trek, The Motion Picture. His large-scale commissions include the six-story tall mural The Space Mural — A Cosmic View, created for the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C., during 1976, the museum’s inaugural year. The Space Mural is a sweeping presentation of the birth of the universe (the creation of stars and planets) to the landing of an American astronaut on the moon.
His large-scale commissions include the six-story tall mural The Space Mural — A Cosmic View, created for the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C., during 1976, the museum’s inaugural year. The Space Mural is a sweeping presentation of the birth of the universe (the creation of stars and planets) to the landing of an American astronaut on the moon. In addition to creating art for major space associations and museums, McCall has also worked with traditional art institutions. For example, in 1973, the artist created a series of lithographs on the Apollo moon landing with the esteemed Tamarind Institute, collaborating with master printmakers on this portfolio that will be on view in this exhibition. In his many paintings and works on paper based on specific events and technology (such as an image of Skylab orbiting the earth or the launch of the space shuttle Columbia), McCall imports a sense of drama and exploration into his art. He told a reporter once, “I think what I'm hoping to do is to convey or communicate some of my own sense of wonder at the magic of the universe.” He also paints “futurescapes” — fantasy landscapes of parts of the universe as yet undiscovered, scenes of possible NASA missions, such as an astronaut landing on Mars, and floating cities hovering over earthly landmarks, including the Grand Canyon. In 2005, the McCall Museum of Art is scheduled to open in Peoria, Arizona, outside of Phoenix near where the artist lives. A Smithsonian Institution affiliated museum, the McCall Museum of Art will be built adjacent to the Challenger Space Science Center and will feature more than 400 works of art by McCall and his wife Louise McCall, who is also a painter. The exhibition features approximately thirty paintings, works on paper, and prints, dating from 1962 to the present. Included is a print based on his recently commissioned 18-foot mural for NASA, titled “Celebrating One Hundred Years of Powered Flight: 1903-2003.” Organized by the Marsh Art Gallery, University of Richmond Museums Robert McCall: Celebrating 100 Years of Powered Flight was curated by Richard Waller, Executive Director, University of Richmond Museums. At the Marsh Art Gallery, University Museums, the exhibition is made possible in part with funds from the Louis S. Booth Arts Fund.