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Neil Armstrong 1930–2012
On July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong became the first man to walk on the moon, as mission commander of the crew of Apollo XI. He and astronauts Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins thus fulfilled President Kennedy's audacious challenge of 1961: "This nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before the decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth." Armstrong subsequently oversaw aeronautics research at NASA and taught aerospace engineering at the University of Cincinnati from 1971 to 1979. He received numerous honors, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1969.
A reticent man, it was not certain that Armstrong would agree to sit for his portrait, but after one of his closest friends, Robert L. Kirk, met with him and explained the process, Armstrong sat for the artist Robert McCurdy. The latter completed his photographs of Armstrong in 2006, but the painting was not finished until 2012.
Robert McCurdy (born 1952)
Oil on canvas, 2012
Gift of Ian M. and Annette P. Cumming |