Mars

Text by Noel Cramer from:
"The Art of Ludek Pesek"


Click here to see more of Ludek Pesek's Mars Paintings


The artist was particularly fascinated by the planet Mars. One of his science fiction novels (The Earth is near) was based on a first exploration of that planet. The topographic data acquired by spacecraft in the seventies made possible a good estimate of land features - landscapes as they would appear to an astronaut walking on the Martian surface. In the Mars Section we present some of Ludek Pesek's best known paintings done after the first results of the Viking landers became available in 1976. These images are followed by some corresponding pages from the artist's sketchbook where he pasted the photograph of a portion of the finished work. All the Martian landscapes are oil-painted on boards measuring either 57 x 86 cm or 61x 90 cm. Also included are six earlier paintings which show the dark blue sky as it was anticipated before the Viking spacecraft sent back their first images from their landing sites. We may point out that, apart from the rendering of the sky, these paintings are in good agreement with our present knowledge of the Martian environment.

 

Space Art: Ludek Pesek Mars Painting
View from Deimos

(Courtesy Smithsonian Institution)

 

Space Art: Ludek Pesek Mars Painting
View from Phobos

 

Space Art: Ludek Pesek Mars Painting
On the edge of a dust storm
(Courtesy Smithsonian Institution)

 

Space Art: Ludek Pesek Mars Painting
Morning fog

(Courtesy Smithsonian Institution)

 

Space Art: Ludek Pesek Mars Painting
In the Olympus Mons caldera

(Courtesy Smithsonian Institution)

 

Space Art: Ludek Pesek Mars Painting
Polar landscape

(Courtesy Smithsonian Institution)

 

Space Art: Ludek Pesek Mars Painting
Dust storm.

A version of this image was on the CD of the failed Mars 96 mission

 

Space Art: Ludek Pesek Mars Painting
Interior of a volcanic caldera

 


Space Art: Ludek Pesek Mars Painting
Crustal fractures in the Alba region

 

Space Art: Ludek Pesek Mars Painting
Crustal fractures in the Alba region

 

Space Art: Ludek Pesek Mars Painting
The Dune fields

(Courtesy Smithsonian Institution)

 

Space Art: Ludek Pesek Mars Painting
The Dune fields

(Courtesy Smithsonian Institution)

 

Space Art: Ludek Pesek Mars Painting
View across a section of Valles Marineris

(Courtesy Smithsonian Institution)

Space Art: Ludek Pesek Mars Painting
View across a section of Valles Marineris
(Courtesy Smithsonian Institution)

 

Space Art: Ludek Pesek Mars Painting
Evaporation of nightly frost

(Courtesy Smithsonian Institution)

 

Space Art: Ludek Pesek Mars Painting
Evaporation of nightly frost

(Courtesy Smithsonian Institution)

 

Space Art: Ludek Pesek Mars Painting
Lava flows on the floor of a volcanic caldera
(Courtesy Smithsonian Institution)

Space Art: Ludek Pesek Mars Painting
Lava flows on the floor of a volcanic caldera
(Courtesy Smithsonian Institution)

 

Space Art: Ludek Pesek Mars Painting
Southern part of the Olympus Mons caldera

 

Space Art: Ludek Pesek Mars Painting
Southern part of the Olympus Mons caldera

 

< Space Art: Ludek Pesek Mars Painting
Rock field in the polar regions

(Courtesy Smithsonian Institution)

 

Space Art: Ludek Pesek Mars Painting
Rock field in the polar regions

(Courtesy Smithsonian Institution)

 

Space Art: Ludek Pesek Mars Painting
Flow patterns around the crater "Yuty"

 

Space Art: Ludek Pesek Mars Painting
Flow patterns around the crater "Yuty"

 

 

Before the Viking landers



Space Art: Ludek Pesek Mars Painting
Erosion by flooding water

 

Space Art: Ludek Pesek Mars Painting
Dust storm

 

Space Art: Ludek Pesek Mars Painting
Dust storm approaching canyon system

 

Space Art: Ludek Pesek Mars Painting
Olympus Mons caldera

 

Space Art: Ludek Pesek Mars Painting
Cirrus over frost covered mountains

 

Space Art: Ludek Pesek Mars Painting
Frost on canyon wall

 

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