The first painting created outside of Earth’s atmosphere was made by Alexei Leonov, a Russian astronaut. He was also the first person to conduct a spacewalk.
His artwork depicts the moment of sunrise from orbit. At that time, the astronaut was aboard a spacecraft orbiting Earth, providing him the opportunity to observe his surroundings.
According to Artnet, this is a small drawing, measuring the length of a colored pencil that Leonov used while painting, produced by the Soviet company Tactics.
The artwork was created on a loose sheet of white paper, with details that do not cover the entire page but are sufficient to capture the vibrant colors Leonov observed in the sky.
For a practical drawing, this piece is quite abstract.
The Earth is represented by curved lines. Meanwhile, the surface of the water is depicted in a blend of blue and black. The sun is illustrated as a red ball rising from a field of blue. Finally, a deep black line evokes the vastness of space.
This is the first painting made in space by astronaut Alexei Leonov. (Photo: Museum of the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center).
While the painting appears simple, completing it was a significant challenge due to the microgravity environment. Leonov struggled to keep his painting materials secure in space.
The astronaut painted this small piece during the Voskhod mission on March 2, 1965. He was accompanied by only one other astronaut, Pavel Belyayev, who remained inside the spacecraft while Leonov conducted his spacewalk.
“The silence of space was such that I could hear my heartbeat. I was surrounded by stars and drifting freely. I will never forget that moment,” he told The Guardian before his passing in 2019.
This painting was previously displayed in the exhibition Cosmonauts: Birth of the Space Age at the Science Museum in London in 2015, with support from the Russian space agency Roscosmos. Leonov also attended the opening.
Leonov was a talented artist, having once aspired to be a painter before pursuing a career in space exploration. (Photo: NASA).
The exhibition also featured a spacesuit worn by Yuri Gagarin, the first person to fly into space. Gagarin had trained alongside Leonov before he undertook his mission.
Before his death, Leonov was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union twice for his contributions to space exploration. However, few knew that this astronaut had always dreamed of being an artist.
During World War II, Leonov gained fame by sketching portraits of wounded soldiers in a local hospital, as well as heroic battle scenes.
In 1953, Leonov began painting seascapes of the Baltic region and enrolled at an art academy in Riga. After graduating from art school, he unexpectedly applied to an air force academy and graduated in 1957. He later qualified to become a parachute instructor.
Leonov was selected to join the Soviet space program in March 1960, marking the beginning of his astronaut career.
