The Trouvelot Astronomical Drawings
If Strong and Hardy is anything to me, it’s the intersection of my love for both art and science, the collision between spirituality and materialism, the surreal and the actual, the abundant still unexplained magic we live undaunted by as well as the exceptional heaps of knowledge we have acquired about ourselves and this world we inhabit.
Everything we’ve learned and accomplished in spite of our biggest ugliest self-destructive fallibilities.
In spite of the relentless call to suffer and to cause suffering…which I don’t believe is a trait of humanity, but humanity itself.
We are suffering personified.
Human life holds no meaning without it.
If I ever need to be humbled, I’ll try desperately and unavailingly to imagine infinite space. Space that just goes on…forever. Or stops somewhere. Eventually. And then what?
…while we—trapped in this singular paradise on this inexplicable and beautiful rock—come into being seemingly out of nothing, and grow, and learn and fight and love and struggle and create ugly and beauty in equal measure and ache and suffer and die sometimes in peace, sometimes not. And all in the blink of the universe’s eye.
When was the last time you laid down under the night sky and treated your eyes to the stars and planets we are fortunate enough to see from down here on this floating merry go-round? Or have the lights of the modern world robbed this from you?
My sweet child, you are missing your chance to look back in time.
Étienne Trouvelot, a French artist, astronomer, and amateur entomologist, is best known for creating approximately 7,000 astronomical illustrations based on his observations.
His work reached its peak in 1882 with the publication of The Trouvelot Astronomical Drawings, a collection of 15 exquisite pastel works.
The quality of his work earned him a position at the Harvard College Observatory and, in 1875, access to the U.S. Naval Observatory’s 26-inch refractor.
Trouvelot’s meticulous artistry remains a remarkable contribution to the field of astronomical documentation.
Each 4x6 image is printed by us on striking luster metallic paper and individually wrapped.
This box set includes all 15 pastel works.
