Montgolfère 1783

On 21st November 1783 at 13:54 mans several thousand year old dream to fly in the air became true. Pilatre de Rozier and Marquis d'Arlandes made the first free flight in a hot air balloon of about 49 feet in diameter and 72 feet high. It was made of silk, lined with paper to trap the hot air, elegantly decorated and painted over with signs of the zodiac, the Kings initial, and lilies. Around the lower opening of the balloon was a three feet wide gallery made of wickerwork which had an inner diameter of almost 16 feet. In the middle of the opening was an iron glow pan which could be operated from the gallery. A 1785 publication by Tiberio Cavallo "History and Operation of Aerostats" describes the event: "The balloon rose and floated safe and easy above some trees, slowly and majestic to the sky. When they reached about 280 feet the two men wave their hats to the amazed crowd" The wind blew the balloon right over Paris and made a safe landing in a field after 25 minutes in the air.

The artist captured this historic event in an exceptional oil painting which is now available as a colorful open edition art print, using light-fast printing inks on high quality paper.

Kenneth McDonough, was a leading british aviation artist who started his artistic career in 1946. His originals have reached amazing highs in London auction rooms and rare limited edition prints have already had price tags of several hundred pounds during his lifetime.

Open Edition:

• Unsigned Edition
• Artist signed Edition