SOKOLOV, ANDREI & ALEXEI LEONOV

Acrylic on orgalit over board, 27½ by 15½ inches (to sight), framed to 31 by 20 inches. Verso signed in Russian "А А ЛЕОНОВБ А К СОКОЛОВ УТРО 'ЛУНОХДА-1'" [A A Leonov, A K Sokolov. "Morning of 'Lunokhod-1'" ]. Verso with paper label, and several other pen and pencil markings. Numbered "N 95" on paper label and board in red pencil.

Illustrated in: A. Leonov & A. Sokolov, ЗВЕЗДНЫЕ ПУТИ/Star-Roads, p. 41; see Leonov & Sokolov, Life Among Stars, p. 33; "Алексеи Леонов - у бездны на краю" [Alexei Leonov - "At the Edge of the Abyss"], at 27:49. 

A detailed depiction of the Lunokhod-1, the Soviet unmanned lunar rover on the morning of its having landed on the lunar surface, with the landing stage of the Luna-17 Soviet automatic station in the background. One of a series of 3 known paintings executed by Sokolov and Leonov of the Lunokhod-1, with one depicting it prior to its descent from the landing stage (illustrated in Sokolov & Leonov's book Life Among Stars), and another featuring it in a crater (illustrated on the same page as the present work, in Sokolov & Leonov's book Star-Roads). This work appears and is discussed in the Russian documentary "Алексеи Леонов - у бездны на краю" [Alexei Leonov - "At the Edge of the Abyss"]. A version of this was used in a 1972 Soviet postage stamp (Michel no. 4046). 

Cosmonaut Alexei Leonov, the first man to do a spacewalk, had an important impact on the work of Sokolov, and the two men became close friends. Leonov collaborated with Sokolov on a number of projects, in particular assisting with the realistic depiction of views from orbit as one who had seen them. Together, the two held joint exhibitions throughout Russia and Europe, and a number of books have been published of their collaborations. The National Air & Space Museum has a collection of works by Sokolov and Leonov.