Grand Prix d'Aviation. 1912. Ernest Louis Lessieux.28 3/8 x 40 ¾ in./72 x 103.5 cmMilitar

Grand Prix d'Aviation. 1912. Ernest Louis Lessieux.

28 3/8 x 40 ¾ in./72 x 103.5 cm

Military men look on, skeptically and thoughtfully, as a ground crew struggles to manage a Blériot XXVII on the turf outside Angers. This was “the first contest to show the extent to which the aeroplane could be depended upon as an instrument of war” (Looping the Loop, p. 83). In the actual competition, an early summer date proved unwise as terrible rains and winds descended upon the course. Just before the event was postponed, however, Roland Garros landed his Deperdussin “Demoiselle,” winning the event to the consternation of the other 34 pilots who hadn’t been able to compete. “‘It was a moving, at times agonizing, demonstration,’ reported Le Matin. ‘The most marvelous show of valor in aviation,’ chimed in writer Jacques Mortane. The exploit of Garros against a fierce wind had placed him ahead of all the pilots in the world” (p.83).

Available at auction February 25, 2018.