BGuthrie Photos: VA -- Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center -- Exhibit: Clouds in a Bag

VA -- Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center -- Exhibit: Clouds in a Bag:

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Description of Pictures: Clouds in a Bag: The Evelyn Way Kendall Ballooning and Early Aviation Collection
January 28, 2017 – Through 2018
The invention of the balloon struck the men and women of the late 18th century like a thunderbolt. From August to December 1783 enormous crowds gathered to watch one balloon after another rise above the Paris rooftops, carrying the first human beings into the air. The excitement spread as daring aeronauts took to the sky in cities across Europe. The balloon was proof that the twin enterprises of science and technology could produce what looked very much like a miracle.
The objects in this exhibition represent a portion of the rich collection of Evelyn Way Kendall and her husband, Henry Plimpton Kendall. The Kendalls were among the great American collectors of their generation. From the early 1920s to the 1960s, Mrs. Kendall amassed over 1,000 works of art, prints, posters, objects, manuscripts, and books documenting the history of flight. The treasures in her collection provide a sense of the wonder and excitement experienced by those who witnessed the birth of flight over two centuries ago.
The Evelyn Way Kendall Ballooning and Early Aviation Collection is a generous gift of the Norfolk Charitable Trust, which also supported the exhibition.

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Copyrights: All pictures were taken by amateur photographer Bruce Guthrie (me!) who retains copyright on them. Free for non-commercial use with attribution. See the [Creative Commons] definition of what this means. "Photos (c) Bruce Guthrie" is fine for attribution. (Commercial use folks including AI scrapers can of course contact me.) Feel free to use in publications and pages with attribution but you don't have permission to sell the photos themselves. A free copy of any printed publication using any photographs is requested. Descriptive text, if any, is from a mixture of sources, quite frequently from signs at the location or from official web sites; copyrights, if any, are retained by their original owners.

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Specific picture descriptions: Photos above with "i" icons next to the bracketed sequence numbers (e.g. "[1] ") are described as follows:
1. AIRXCL_170220_001.JPG: Clouds in a Bag The Evelyn Way Kendall Ballooning and Early Aviation Collection
2. AIRXCL_170220_003.JPG: Clouds in a Bag The Evelyn Way Kendall Ballooning and Early Aviation Collection
3. AIRXCL_170220_007.JPG: Clouds in a Bag The invention of the balloon struck the men and women of the late 18th century like a thunderbolt. From August to December 1783 enormous crowds gathered to watch one balloon after another rise above the Paris rooftops, carrying the first human beings into the air. The excitement spread as daring aeronauts took to the sky in cities across Europe. The balloon was proof that the twin enterprises of science and technology could produce what looked very much like a miracle. What else was one to think of a contrivance that enabled humans to fly? When humans could fly, what other wonders might the future hold?
4. AIRXCL_170220_013.JPG: Departure of Andree for the North Pole, 11 July 1897 on the Eagle, c 1897 Swedish meteorologist Salomon August Andrée and companions Knut Fraenkel and Nils Strindberg set out for the North Pole. Forced down on the ice far from their goal, the trio trekked to White Island in the Arctic Ocean where they died. In 1930, the crew of a passing ship discovered their last camp, solving the mystery of their disappearance
5. AIRXCL_170220_016.JPG: A handbill advertising a stock offering to finance the exploration of uncharted lands by balloon. Newsprint, English, no date
6. AIRXCL_170220_023.JPG: Untitled lithograph Franch, late 19th century
7. AIRXCL_170220_027.JPG: For the Upper Regions O English, c. 1868 Comic print perhaps ridiculing the high altitude ascents of the English scientist, James Glaisher, who made a series of scientific balloon flights to study conditions in the upper atmosphere.
8. AIRXCL_170220_031.JPG: Etching, 1819 The people of Tornea, Lapland, bear witness to the launching of the first balloon within the Arctic Circle.
9. AIRXCL_170220_034.JPG: Balloons in Exploration From Edgar Allen Poe to Jules Verne, 19th century authors employed balloons in imaginative tales to carry their heroes to unexplored sections of Africa and even the Moon. Real-life explorers employed the lighter-than-air craft to probe the upper reaches of the atmosphere, or float across the arctic wastes in an attempt to reach the North Pole.
10. AIRXCL_170220_037.JPG: Lithograph, collecting cards French, c 1884 Collecting cards depicting an incident during the Battle of Bac-Ninh near Hanoi, Vietnam on March 12, 1884, in which a local governor and his rabbits are frightened by the approach of a balloon carrying French troops.
11. AIRXCL_170220_042.JPG: Hand-colored etching French, no date The Army of Revolutionary France first used observation balloons during the battle of Fleurus, 1794.
12. AIRXCL_170220_045.JPG: Divers Projets sur la descente en Angleterre Etching, French, c 1803 Fanciful print suggesting an aerial invasion of Great Britain.
13. AIRXCL_170220_049.JPG: Balloons at War Having watched the first humans rise into the air, Benjamin Franklin predicted that the new invention would have considerable military value, enabling an aerial view of an enemy's army for "conveying intelligence into, or out of, a besieged town, giving signals to distant places, or the like." France put theory into practice by creating the Aerostatic Corps during the Revolutionary Wars. T. S. C. Lowe organized a much more ambitious Balloon Corps for the Union armies during the American Civil War. European observers, noting the role that balloons had played in the US, were inspired to organize military aeronautical units in their nations.
14. AIRXCL_170220_061.JPG: Mrs. Graham's Balloon Ascent with the Duke of Brunswick, 22nd August 1836 E.W. Cocks Oil on panel English, c 1836
15. AIRXCL_170220_066.JPG: The Descent of Mr. Livingston on the Coast of Baldoyle County of Dublin, on Thursday the 27th of June 1822 Aquatint English, 1822 (?)
16. AIRXCL_170220_074.JPG: Despite taunts from the crown and considerably wind, Jules Duruof and his wife launched from the Place d'Armes, Calais, in July 1874. They were blown out to sea and presumed lost. This scene is their rescue from the North Sea by the crew of a British fishing boat, Grand Charge. Charles John de Lacy Watercolor and gouache on paper English, 1874 (?)
17. AIRXCL_170220_077.JPG: Lost Balloons The dangers of ballooning were apparent to aeronauts and the general public. From the early 1800s, attempts to fly over water too often ended in disaster or a narrow escape. Some of the best known aeronauts on both sides of the Atlantic set off across a large body of water never to be seen again. The daring rescue of balloonists from water was a favorite subject with artists and engravers. The vision of a "lost balloon" vanishing over the horizon became a metaphor for the uncertainties of life in the turbulent 19th century.
18. AIRXCL_170220_078.JPG: English, 19th century The ballooning fad gave this illustrator artistic license to suggest the ultimate balloon voyage -- a trip to the Moon.
19. AIRXCL_170220_086.JPG: The Great Pictorial Romance of the Age or Steam Ship Commodores & United States Mail Contractors American, 1849 A social commentary on the rush to reach the California gold fields.
20. AIRXCL_170220_094.JPG: The Coalition Balloon, 1784 English, 1784 Political commentary on the British prime ministry of Lord North.
21. AIRXCL_170220_102.JPG: Satire What made the balloon such a key graphic element in political and social satire for over one century? Was it the bulbous shape, or the fact that balloons are wayward craft that tend to go where the wind blows, in spite of the aeronaut's best efforts? Whatever the reason, the great comic artists of the 18th and 19th century turned to the balloon time and time again in order to poke fun at people and events.
22. AIRXCL_170220_104.JPG: Prof. Lowe's Balloon Wagon Artist unknown, American, 1862 (?) With the coming of the Civil War, T.S.C. Lowe created and led an observation Balloon Corps for the Union Army. In the spring of 1862, the Union Army attempted to capture the Confederate capital of Richmond by attacking up the Virginia peninsula. This painting of the Union position at White House Landing on the Pamunkey River, shows one of Lower's inflation wagons on shore. Tanks inside the wagon were filled with dilute sulfuric acid and iron filings to generate the hydrogen gas to fill the balloons.
23. AIRXCL_170220_118.JPG: Hand colored triptych print Utagawa Yoshitori Japan, c. 1867 Thaddeus Sobieski Constantine Lowe (1832–1913) was one of the great American aeronauts of the 19th century. On June 14, 1860, Lowe (on the far left with beard) demonstrated an ascension at Philadelphia for a delegation of Japanese visitors. Some years later, the Japanese artist created this triptych so those who had never seen a balloon could imagine the event. The accurate portrait of Lowe is based on illustrated newspaper accounts available to the artist. In June 1861, T.S.C. Lowe made a tethered balloon ascent from a spot in front of the present location of the National Air and Space Museum on the National Mall to demonstrate the value of aerial reconnaissance to President Abraham Lincoln. The experiment led to the creation of a balloon corps for the Union Army, the first military aeronautical unit in American history.
24. AIRXCL_170220_135.JPG: English, 1837 Robert Cocking's parachute failed. His death was one of the most widely reported aeronautical tragedies of the era.
25. AIRXCL_170220_139.JPG: American, 1949 Charles Green was the most celebrated and accomplished British balloonist of the 19th century. Having made his first ascent in 1821, he would complete over 500 flights during his career. The Royal Vauxhall balloon was his most famous craft.
26. AIRXCL_170220_144.JPG: English, 19th century James Sadler is rescued by a fisherman after being forced down in the water during an attempt to cross the Irish Sea on October 1, 1812.
27. AIRXCL_170220_149.JPG: Ascent from Hackney by James Sadler English, c 1811 James Sadler, a pastry chef, was the second person and the first Englishman to fly form English soil just three weeks after Lunardi's first flight. Here he ascends from Hackney, London, with a companion on August 29, 1811. He flew to East Thorpe, Essex, conducting scientific experiments along the way.
28. AIRXCL_170220_166.JPG: English, 1784 Vincenzo Lunardi, Secretary to the Neapolitan Ambassador to the Court of St. James, displays his balloon in a London exhibition hall, 1784.
29. AIRXCL_170220_172.JPG: Four Aeronauts Intrepid men and women who earned their livelihoods in the sky -- the aeronauts -- emerged as well-known public figures during the 19th century. They were a new breed of aerial showmen, capturing headlines with spectacular ascents and long distance voyages. The Italian Vincenzo Lunardi, Englishmen James Sadler and Charles Green, and the American Thaddeus S. C. Lowe were among the best-known members of this new profession.
30. AIRXCL_170220_180.JPG: English, 19th century English aeronaut Charles Paternoster delights the crowd gathered for a celebration at London's Vauxhall Garden, August 7, 1854.
31. AIRXCL_170220_187.JPG: French, 19th century The daring Elisa Garnerin, a member of a pioneering French ballooning family, tops a balloon ascent from Lille, France, with a parachute descent to earth. She made 30 parachute jumps between 1815 and 1836.
32. AIRXCL_170220_192.JPG: Aeronaut Sophie Blanchard participates in the celebration of the entry of King Louis XVIII into Paris, May 4, 1814.
33. AIRXCL_170220_201.JPG: A fireworks display includes a balloon to celebrate peace on Bastille Day in Paris, July 14, 1801.
34. AIRXCL_170220_210.JPG: Opening of the new London Bridge, August 1, 1831
35. AIRXCL_170220_213.JPG: Kunisoda III Japan, latte 19th century This late-19th century Japanese print portrays the excitement surrounding a balloon ascension and parachute descent by the touring English aeronaut Percival Spencer.
36. AIRXCL_170220_224.JPG: Celebrations in the Sky! From the beginning, a balloon ascent drew crowds of delighted spectators. During the 19th century no celebration, from a coronation to a bridge dedication, was complete without at least one balloon. "At the conversation here at present turns upon the Balloons... and the means of managing them so as to give Men the Advantage of Flying." -- Benjamin Franklin
37. AIRXCL_170220_228.JPG: English, 1785 On January 7, 1785, J.P. Blanchard and Boston-born Dr. John Jeffries made the first aerial crossing of the English Channel, flying from Dover, England, to Calais, France. Jeffries was the first American to make a free flight.
38. AIRXCL_170220_243.JPG: French, 1784 Things did not always go well at the early ascents. Would-be aeronauts Miolan and Janinet announced that they would fly from Paris on July 11, 1784. By 5:00pm, with the balloon still on the ground, the crowd lost patience and set it afire.
39. AIRXCL_170220_250.JPG: Sir John Lavery The Lyon Balloon 19 January 1784 English, 1915 A later imagining of Le Flesselles in the air.
40. AIRXCL_170220_259.JPG: French, 1784 The large Montgolfier balloon Le Flesselles rises over the city of Lyons, France, on January 19, 1784. Measuring 37 meters (120 feet) tall, this balloon was the largest balloon built by the Montgolfier brothers.
41. AIRXCL_170220_267.JPG: Le Suffren Etienne Chevalier de Lorimier 1784 The balloon craze quickly spread to other French cities. Here, Father Mouchet and the Marquis de Luynes ascent from Nantes in western France aboard the balloon Le Suffren, on June 14, 1784.
42. AIRXCL_170220_276.JPG: French, 1784 On December 1, 1783, J.A.C. Charles and companion M.N. Robert made the first free flight in a gas balloon, from the Tuileries, Paris.
43. AIRXCL_170220_283.JPG: French, 18th century Two hours after take-off, Charles and Robert landed safely in the village of Nesles-la-Vallee, 35 kilometers (21 miles) northwest of Paris.
44. AIRXCL_170220_296.JPG: English, 1784 The first illustration of a balloon published in England shows the ascent of the animals. The inaccurate portrayal suggests that the artist had never seen a balloon and was working from written descriptions.
45. AIRXCL_170220_303.JPG: French, 1783 Not to be upstaged, the Montgolfiers sent a sheep, a duck, and a rooster aloft in a wicker cage dangling beneath a hot air balloon on September 19, 1783. The flight took place before an enormous crowd gathered in front of the royal Palace of Versailles.
46. AIRXCL_170220_314.JPG: French, 1783 The first hydrogen balloon landed in the village of Gonesse that afternoon, some 16 kilometers (10 miles) from the launch point. It was attacked by local peasants who assumed it was a demon that had fallen from the sky.
47. AIRXCL_170220_318.JPG: French, 1783 Inspired by reports of the Montgolfier flight, Parisians commissioned chemical experimenter Jacques Alexandre Cesar Charles (1746-1823) to provide a balloon demonstration for the capital. He filled his balloon with the lightweight gas, hydrogen, rather than hot air. Charles sent his first small gas balloon aloft from the Champ de Mars on August 27, 1783. The chest in the foreground contained dilute sulfuric acid and metal filings, used to generate hydrogen to fill the balloon.
48. AIRXCL_170220_337.JPG: First Flights Humankind first took to the sky using the principle of buoyancy. As the Greek philosopher Archimedes explained, when an object weighs less than the amount of fluid it displaces, it will rise until it reaches an equilibrium point. A balloon can become buoyant when filled with hot air or a gas that is lighter than air, such as hydrogen. While small hot air balloons were flown centuries ago in Asia, and a small balloon may have been flown in Lisbon as early as 1704, the first people did not venture aloft until the fall and winter of 1783.
49. AIRXCL_170220_339.JPG: Clouds in a Bag The invention of the balloon struck the men and women of the late 18th century like a thunderbolt. From August to December 1783 enormous crowds gathered to watch one balloon after another rise above the Paris rooftops, carrying the first human beings into the air. The excitement spread as daring aeronauts took to the sky in cities across Europe. The balloon was proof that the twin enterprises of science and technology could produce what looked very much like a miracle. What else was one to think of a contrivance that enabled humans to fly? When humans could fly, what other wonders might the future hold?
50. AIRXCL_170220_341.JPG: Evelyn Way Kendall 1893-1979 Evelyn Way Kendall and her husband, Henry Plimpton Kendall, a Massachusetts-based textile manufacturer, were among the great American collectors of their generation. From the early 1920s to the 1960s, Mrs. Kendall amassed over 1,000 works of art, prints, posters, objects, manuscripts, and books documenting the history of flight. The treasures in her collection provide a sense of the wonder and excitement experienced by those who witnessed the birth of flight over two centuries ago.
51. AIRXCL_170220_345.JPG: Ruggini Valeri Italy, 1956 Delighted spectators watch the ascent of a fanciful 18th century balloon.
52. AIRXCL_170220_364.JPG: Picturing Flight In an age before newspapers and magazines could print pictures, the production and sale of single-sheet printed images illustrating the events and personalities of the day flourished. Beginning in the summer of 1783, artists and engravers rushed to produce images of the beautifully decorated balloons and the daring men and women who flew them. Those who had witnessed an ascent, and the thousands of curious citizens who had not been so fortunate, crowded the print sellers in search of a picture of the latest flight. Prints showing the latest balloon ascents and adventures remained popular through the 19th century.
53. AIRXCL_170220_366.JPG: German, 1791 During an attempted launch from Vienna on March 9, 1791, pioneer French aeronaut Jean-Pierre Blanchard's colorful balloon was blown over by high winds.
54. AIRXCL_170220_377.JPG: English, 18th century A fanciful Flying Ship proposed by the Brazilian Jesuit Bartolomeu de Gusmao(1685-1724). Gusmao is said to have flown a small balloon before the Portuguese court in Lisbon's Casa da India on August 8, 1709.
55. AIRXCL_170220_381.JPG: Balloonomania The wave of balloon excitement that swept across France was reflected in popular culture. Hair and clothing styles inspired by the balloons were all the rage. Craftsmen and merchants were quick to take advantage of the fascination with flight, producing jewelry, hats, fans, snuff boxes, match and needle cases, ceramics, wallpaper, and a host of other products employing balloon motifs to attract the eye and open the pocketbook of customers.
56. AIRXCL_170220_394.JPG: Needle Case, 18th-19th century
57. AIRXCL_170220_408.JPG: Snuff box, 18th century
58. AIRXCL_170220_423.JPG: Ladies Fans During the 1780s, a fan was an important fashion accessory for any well-dressed French lady. She could communicate subtle messages across a ballroom of theatre by the way in which she held or manipulated her fan. Beginning with the first flights of 1783, ballooning scenes emerged as one of the most popular decorative motifs for ladies fans. Made of painted paper or silk, a few examples surviving to today are too fragile to display, and are reproduced here as photographs.
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