This year marks the 50th anniversary of humankind’s first steps on the moon. Dean Robbins’ new picture book, The Astronaut Who Painted the Moon: The True Story of Alan Bean (Scholastic Publishing), follows the stellar and artistic journeys of one of those explorers.
“You know, people romanticize the moon,” observed the late astronaut/artist Alan Bean.
David Giroux
Dean Robbins
“But I’ve been there and I can tell you it’s mostly black dirt. But I want it to be the most beautiful black dirt that’s ever been painted in the history of art.”
The book begins with Bean’s 1969 Apollo 12 mission — which reached the moon on Nov. 19, 1969, about four months after the historic Apollo 11 landing of July 20 — and then flashes back to the twin passions of his youth: colors and model airplanes. He studies painting, becomes a pilot and then an astronaut, and finally a professional painter. Robbins’ book climaxes with Bean’s first art exhibit, inspiring children who want to become astronauts or artists — or both.
It seems an unlikely path. After Apollo, Bean spent 59 days in the Earth’s orbit as commander of Skylab 3. As with his peers, space had a profound effect. As Apollo 8 astronaut Frank Borman put it, “You’re going to get a concept that maybe this really is one world and why the hell can’t we learn to live together like decent people?”
The other astronauts knew Bean had studied painting. They also knew their lunar photos — though wondrous — did not begin to capture the feeling of walking on another world. They urged Bean to capture the experience.
Bean, who died in May 2018, began to produce impressionist space scenes in the 1980s, adding bold color to the mostly gray moonscape. Today, some of his works have sold for as much as $433,000.
On July 1, The New York Times published a rave review of The Astronaut Who Painted the Moon as part of a roundup of moon landing-related titles. “More than an account of a singular figure, Robbins’s notable biography is a beautiful reminder that science and art are a vital combination and, together, can create new understanding.”
Robbins’ writing journey involves exploring the lives of some of his childhood heroes. Robbins worked at Isthmus for 28 years, serving as arts editor and then editor. He departed in 2014 to work in communications at UW-Madison. Today he is co-editor of On Wisconsin magazine.
Growing up in the era of NASA’s Apollo missions, it was only natural that space pioneers became heroes. “I just idolized astronauts,” Robbins recalls. “I kept an astronaut scrapbook. I had all my newspaper articles and pictures in there.”
It’s not the first time Robbins has turned a youthful fascination into a children’s book. His previous children’s titles include Two Friends: Susan B. Anthony and Frederick Douglass and Miss Paul and the President: The Creative Campaign for Women’s Right to Vote.
He still has photos of other heroes on his wall: Louis Armstrong, Emily Dickinson, Franz Kafka and John Lennon.
“It was just another way of sharing those stories with a different audience,” says Robbins of his growing collection of published books.
Bean was still alive when Robbins began the book, and Robbins admits to feeling intimidated about reaching out to the astro-artist. So first he created a draft manuscript, gained a publisher’s interest, and only then tried to contact — well — the fourth man to walk on the moon.
“Even though I’ve been a journalist for years, and I’ve interviewed people like Ella Fitzgerald, Yoko Ono and Robert Redford, I was extremely shy about Alan Bean,” he says.
Bean had written several books himself, and he immediately wanted to collaborate with Robbins. He even offered his own images for the back of the book. “And so I fainted,” says Robbins.
In addition to Bean’s images, the book is charmingly illustrated by Sean Rubin, who mimics some of the astronaut’s idiosyncratic style and vivid colors. Bean was known to step on the wet paint with his moon boots, and scar canvases with instruments meant for gathering lunar samples.
And though he worked in acrylic, it would be more appropriate to say that Bean used mixed media. He added moon dust from his space suit to the pigment.
“That’s a true story,” says Robbins. “He wanted to engage people about the experience of outer space.”
Robbins will read from The Astronaut Who Painted the Moon at 11 a.m. on July 13 at Barnes & Noble West.
