Untitled (Broad Center/Gander)

Currently not on view

Untitled (Broad Center/Gander)

1919

Charles A. A. Dellschau (American (born Germany), 1830–1923)

Charles Dellschau arrived in the United States from Prussia in the 1850s and seems to have fought in the Civil War. He settled in Texas in 1886 and, somewhat reclusive in his old age, spent his time from around the turn of the century until his death in 1923 depicting images of flying machines, which he called "aeros." He created thousands of colorful, double-sided watercolors of imaginary airships, works that incorporate newspaper clippings about early air travel and are embellished with ornamental borders. He bound these works into a dozen notebooks, which were only "discovered" as they were being discarded in the late 1960s. Because these fantastic imaginary flying machines were conceived so early in the history of aviation, Dellschau is considered one of America's first visionary artists.

Currently not on view

Object Details

Title:

Untitled (Broad Center/Gander)

Date:

1919

Artist:

Charles A. A. Dellschau (American (born Germany), 1830–1923)

Medium:

Watercolor and graphite with collage of cut newspaper on paper

Dimensions:

Sheet: 18 3/4 x 16 3/4 inches (47.6 x 42.5 cm)

Classification:

Drawings

Credit Line:

Gift of the Friends of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1998

Accession Number:

1998-19-31

Geography:

Made in United States, North and Central America

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Currently not on view