Neil Armstrong by Paul Calle, lithograph, 1976, from an edition of 1000, signed by both sitter and artist.
Paul Calle (1928-2010) was a New York born artist who served as an illustrator for the US Army during the Korean War. After designing cover art for science fiction magazines, he was chosen in 1962 to be part of the NASA Art Program. He is perhaps best remembered for designing stamps for the US Postal Service, including a pair of 5-cent Gemini postage stamps, and the iconic ‘First Man on the Moon’ 10-cent stamp.
On July 16, 1969, Calle was the only artist allowed access to the Apollo 11 crew, Neil Armstrong, Edwin ‘Buzz’ Aldrin and Michael Collins, as they had breakfast and prepared to enter their spacecraft for their historic mission to the Moon.
His lively on the spot sketches are evocative of these men’s concentration to the momentous task ahead. A self-possessed man of few words, Mission Commander Armstrong was known for his composure and intense focus under pressure, qualities which are palpable in this portrait. Calle’s sketch of Armstrong as he suited up for the mission was issued in lithographic print in 1976 and signed in pencil by both artist and astronaut, to raise money for the National Air and Space Museum’s Charles Lindbergh Memorial Fund. It shows how, four years after the Apollo space programme was prematurely cancelled, that the men who partook in the historic first landing still exerted tremendous fascination for the public.