In The Beginning by Alan Bean (631/1000)

On July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong took one small step for a man and a giant leap for mankind. On November 15, 1969, Alan Bean also set foot on the Moon. Twenty-five years later, "In the Beginning" was created to celebrate the anniversary.

"I knew that creating a painting to celebrate the twenty-fifth anniversary of the first lunar landing and the total Apollo program would be difficult," says Bean. "How does one show in a single painting the dedication, the intensity, the self-sacrifice, the sense of duty, history and patriotism that engulfed all of us in our quest for the Moon?"

With a little help from his friends, that's how. Just as the Apollo program itself was the collaboration of many, Bean sought suggestions from fellow astronauts, artists and good friends before creating this image. The result is this stirring portrait of Neil Armstrong, the first man on the Moon, celebrating their accomplishment in red, white and blue while Gene Cernan, the latest moon explorer, gives a friendly wave at the planet they've temporarily left behind.

Countersigners: Walter Cunningham and Wally Schirra (Apollo 7), Frank Borman (Apollo 8), Jim McDivitt and Rusty Schweickart (Apollo 9), Tom Stafford (Apollo 10), Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins (Apollo 11), Alan Bean, Charles Conrad Jr. and Dick Gordon (Apollo 12), Fred W. Haise and Jim Lovell (Apollo 13), Edgar Mitchell, Stuart A. Roosa and Alan B. Shephard Jr. (Apollo 14), Dave Scott and Al Worden (Apollo 15), Charlie Duke (Apollo 16) and Harrison H. "Jack" Schmitt (Apollo 17).

Unframed - measures 15x17 inches - Comes in original Greenwich folder with Original Greenwich COA

This print was originally published in 1994 as a limited edition of 1000 and has been long sold out at Greenwich