[Apollo 13]; Lumen Winter

Salmagundi Club, 1983.

The Long Island Museum, "Lumen Martin Winter: An Artist Rediscovered," 2017.

Nassau County Museum of Art, "Wild Kingdom: 100 Years of Animal Art," November 2018 - March 2019.

A STRIKING WATERCOLOR STUDY FOR A HISTORIC MISSION INSIGNIA, TOGETHER WITH A SKETCH OF THE FINAL EMBLEM DESIGN FOR BAS RELIEF

The Apollo 13 mission became one of the most noteworthy and dramatic missions in the history of spaceflight after an explosion of an oxygen tank derailed the original objective of lunar landing and the mission's goal became the survival and safe return of the astronauts. During the four days required to fly around the moon and travel back to Earth, the Lunar Module Aquarius was used as a 'lifeboat' and the crew had to conserve electrical power and oxygen all the while performing critical LM engine burns to insure their flight path would indeed return them to Earth. 

The sun on the emblem behind the three horses represents the Greek god Apollo driving a chariot across the surface of the Moon, to symbolize "how Apollo flights have extended the light of knowledge to all mankind" (NASA). The mission's slogan, "From the Moon, Knowledge," referred to the mission's science objectives.

In startling prescience, the mission emblem design did not feature the crewmembers' names because the mission was broadly dedicated to the goal of advancing science for all humanity. The fateful events of the mission underscored the staggering teamwork of hundred of engineers on Earth to assist the crew in returning home. Aside from the Apollo 11 emblem, which similarly left off crew names as the mission was dedicated for all humankind, all other Apollo emblems feature the names of the astronauts involved.

Together with the sketch is a watercolor study of the horses titled "Steeds of Apollo" and completed in 1969. There are several similarities to the final emblem, though a fourth horse is present in the background. This fourth horse is said to represent astronaut Ken Mattingly, who was removed from the Apollo 13 crew after exposure to German Measles by backup LMP Charlie Duke. Mattingly was the only member of the prime crew who had no natural immunity to the disease, and was replaced as CMP by Jack Swigert.

Lumen Winter (b. 1908 - d.1982) was a renowned American sculptor and muralist known for his public art. Recognized for his extraordinary talent across disciplines and his masterful use of color, Winter won a commission from NASA in the late 1960s to design the official mission insignias for Apollo 13-15. To complete the insignia for Apollo 13, Winter drew from his previous powerful renderings of nature and depicted four horses galloping across a cloudscape, boldly advancing on a trajectory of mythic proportions. The Apollo 13 crew, CDR Jim Lovell, LMP Fred Haise, and CMP Jack Swigert were all deeply impressed by his design.

The present lot offers an especially beautiful and insightful look into the emblem design for one of the most noteworthy missions in the history of space exploration.