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Heaven Can Wait by Nicolas Trudgian. (Y) - Military Art

Heaven Can Wait by Nicolas Trudgian. (Y)


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Heaven Can Wait by Nicolas Trudgian. (Y)

B-17 Fortresses of the Bloody Hundredth- the Eighth Air Forces 100th Bomb Group - return to Thorpe Abbotts following a raid on enemy oil refineries, September 11, 1944. Nicolas Trudgians moving tribute to the Bloody Hundredth shows the imaginatively named B-17, Heaven Can Wait, on final approach to Thorpe Abbotts after the intense battle on September 11, 1944. Skilfully piloted by Harry Hempy, the seriously damaged B-17G has struggled 500 miles home on two engines to make it back to England. They lost their tail gunner that fateful day. Below the descending bomber stream, an agricultural traction engine peacefully ploughs the wheat stubble in preparation for next year's vital crop, the farm workers oblivious to the unimaginable traumas so recently experienced by the crews of the returning B-17 Fortresses.
AMAZING VALUE! - The value of the signatures on this item is in excess of the price of the print itself!
Item Code : DHM2592YHeaven Can Wait by Nicolas Trudgian. (Y) - This Edition
TYPEEDITION DETAILSSIZESIGNATURESOFFERSYOUR PRICEPURCHASING
EX-DISPLAY
PRINT
** (Ex Display) Signed limited edition of 500 prints. (Three copies reduced to clear)

Ex display prints in near perfect condition.

Great value : Value of signatures exceeds price of item!
Print paper size 30.5 inches x 24 inches (77cm x 61cm) Cervantes, Henry Hank (signed in person)
Hempy, Harry M (signed in person)
Keenan, Joseph Joe (signed in person)
Mack, James (signed in person)
+ Artist : Nicolas Trudgian


Signature(s) value alone : £170
£90 Off!Now : £130.00

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Other editions of this item : Heaven Can Wait by Nicolas Trudgian.DHM2592
TYPEEDITION DETAILSSIZESIGNATURESOFFERSYOUR PRICEPURCHASING
PRINT Signed limited edition of 500 prints.

Last 20 available of this sold out edition.

Great value : Value of signatures exceeds price of item!
Print paper size 30.5 inches x 24 inches (77cm x 61cm) Cervantes, Henry Hank (signed in person)
Hempy, Harry M (signed in person)
Keenan, Joseph Joe (signed in person)
Mack, James (signed in person)
+ Artist : Nicolas Trudgian


Signature(s) value alone : £170
£60 Off!Add any two items on this offer to your basket, and the lower priced item will be half price in the checkout!Now : £160.00VIEW EDITION...
ARTIST
PROOF
Limited edition 25 artist proof editions.

Update : Last 3 prints of this sold out edition available.
Print paper size 30.5 inches x 24 inches (77cm x 61cm) Cervantes, Henry Hank (signed in person)
Hempy, Harry M (signed in person)
Keenan, Joseph Joe (signed in person)
Mack, James (signed in person)
+ Artist : Nicolas Trudgian


Signature(s) value alone : £170
£20 Off!Now : £220.00VIEW EDITION...
FLYERPromotional Flyer A4 Size Double Sheet 11.5 inches x 8 inches (30m x 21cm)noneAdd any two items on this offer to your basket, and the lower priced item will be half price in the checkout!£2.00VIEW EDITION...
SLIGHT
BORDER
DAMAGE
Signed limited edition of 500 prints.

The print has slight damage to the border area, mostly on a corner. Not noticeable once framed.
Print paper size 30.5 inches x 24 inches (77cm x 61cm) Cervantes, Henry Hank (signed in person)
Hempy, Harry M (signed in person)
Keenan, Joseph Joe (signed in person)
Mack, James (signed in person)
+ Artist : Nicolas Trudgian


Signature(s) value alone : £170
SOLD
OUT
VIEW EDITION...
General descriptions of types of editions :




Extra Details : Heaven Can Wait by Nicolas Trudgian. (Y)
About all editions :



A photograph of one of the editions.

Signatures on this item
*The value given for each signature has been calculated by us based on the historical significance and rarity of the signature. Values of many pilot signatures have risen in recent years and will likely continue to rise as they become more and more rare.
NameInfo
The signature of Cpt Harry M Hempy (deceased)

Cpt Harry M Hempy (deceased)
*Signature Value : £45

The pilot and captain of Heaven Can Wait, Harry Hempy flew his first combat mission on 2nd August 1944. On 11th September he brought the aircraft safely home on three engines after the momentous battle over Ruhrland, a feat he repeated another four times during his tour. His crew destroyed five enemy aircraft. Harry flew to all the big targets, including Berlin, Cologne and Hanover. In total he completed 35 missions. He died on 21st September 2010.


The signature of Lt Col Henry Hank Cervantes

Lt Col Henry Hank Cervantes
*Signature Value : £45

Lt Col. Henry Cervantes was born in Fresno, California in October 1923. He joined the US Air Force and graduated on the 27th June 1944. Lt Col. Henry Cervantes was one of only a few Mexican American Pilots, of The Bloody100th Bombardment Group flying B-17s. On 18th March 1945 he flew on the last Eighth Air Force mission to Berlin, and on 7th April got home safely after his B-17 E-Z Goin' was badly damaged in a head-on attack by Me109s of Rammkommando Elbe.
The signature of Stf Sgt Joseph Joe Keenan

Stf Sgt Joseph Joe Keenan
*Signature Value : £40

Joe Keenan joined the 100th Bomb Group at Thorpe Abbotts as a ball turret gunner. He flew 35 combat missions in B-17 Andy's Dandy, including five missions to Berlin in May 1944, dropped arms and supplies to the French Resistance, and flew on D-Day, 6th June 1944.
The signature of Tech Sgt James Mack

Tech Sgt James Mack
*Signature Value : £40

Pilot James Mack flew the first of his 26 combat missions with the 100th Bomb Group in September 1943. He flew to Berlin three times in March 1944, and also to Schweinfurt, Dresden and a heavy-water plant in Norway. After completing his first tour he signed up to train as a waist-gunner for a further 30 missions, but the war ended before he was needed.
The Aircraft :
NameInfo
Flying FortressIn the mid-1930s engineers at Boeing suggested the possibility of designing a modern long-range monoplane bomber to the U.S. Army Air Corps. In 1934 the USAAC issued Circular 35-26 that outlined specifications for a new bomber that was to have a minimum payload of 2000 pounds, a cruising speed in excess of 200-MPH, and a range of at least 2000 miles. Boeing produced a prototype at its own expense, the model 299, which first flew in July of 1935. The 299 was a long-range bomber based largely on the Model 247 airliner. The Model 299 had several advanced features including an all-metal wing, an enclosed cockpit, retractable landing gear, a fully enclosed bomb bay with electrically operated doors, and cowled engines. With gun blisters glistening everywhere, a newsman covering the unveiling coined the term Flying Fortress to describe the new aircraft. After a few initial test flights the 299 flew off to Wright Field setting a speed record with an average speed of 232-mph. At Wright Field the 299 bettered its competition in almost all respects. However, an unfortunate crash of the prototype in October of 1935 resulted in the Army awarding its primary production contract to Douglas Aircraft for its DB-1 (B-18.) The Army did order 13 test models of the 299 in January 1936, and designated the new plane the Y1B-17. Early work on the B-17 was plagued by many difficulties, including the crash of the first Y1B-17 on its third flight, and nearly bankrupted the Company. Minor quantities of the B-17B, B-17C, and B-17D variants were built, and about 100 of these aircraft were in service at the time Pearl Harbor was attacked. In fact a number of unarmed B-17s flew into the War at the time of the Japanese attack. The German Blitzkrieg in Europe resulted in accelerated aircraft production in America. The B-17E was the first truly heavily armed variant and made its initial flight in September of 1941. B-17Es cost $298,000 each and more than 500 were delivered. The B-17F and B-17G were the truly mass-produced wartime versions of the Flying Fortress. More than 3,400 B-17Fs and more than 8,600 B-17Gs would be produced. The American daylight strategic bombing campaign against Germany was a major factor in the Allies winning the War in Europe. This campaign was largely flown by B-17 Flying Fortresses (12,677 built) and B-24 Liberators (18,188 built.) The B-17 bases were closer to London than those of the B-24, so B-17s received a disproportionate share of wartime publicity. The first mission in Europe with the B-17 was an Eighth Air Force flight of 12 B-17Es on August 12, 1942. Thousands more missions, with as many as 1000 aircraft on a single mission would follow over the next 2 ½ years, virtually decimating all German war making facilities and plants. The B-17 could take a lot of damage and keep on flying, and it was loved by the crews for bringing them home despite extensive battle damage. Following WW II, B-17s would see some action in Korea, and in the 1948 Israel War. There are only 14 flyable B-17s in operation today and a total of 43 complete airframes
Artist Details : Nicolas Trudgian
Click here for a full list of all artwork by Nicolas Trudgian


Nicolas Trudgian

Cranston Fine Arts have now taken over all remaining stocks of Nicolas Trudgian prints from his previous publishers. We have made available a great many prints that had not been seen for many years, and have uncovered some rarities which lay unnoticed during this transition.

Having graduated from art college, Nicolas Trudgian spent many years as a professional illustrator before turning to a career in fine art painting. His crisp style of realism, attention to detail, compositional skills and bright use of colours, immediately found favour with collectors and demand for his original work soared on both sides of the Atlantic. Today, more than a decade after becoming a fine art painter, Nicolas Trudgian is firmly established within a tiny, elite group of aviation artists whose works are genuinely collected world-wide. When he paints an aircraft you can be sure he has researched it in every detail and when he puts it over a particular airfield, the chances are he has paid it a recent visit. Even when he paints a sunset over a tropical island, or mist hanging over a valley in China, most probably he has seen it with his own eyes. Nick was born and raised in the seafaring city of Plymouth, the port from which the Pilgrim Fathers set sail in 1620, and where Sir Francis Drake played bowls while awaiting the Spanish Armada. Growing up in a house close to the railway station within a busy military city, the harbour always teeming with naval vessels and the skies above resonating with the sounds of naval aircraft, it was not at all surprising the young Nick became fascinated with trains, boats and aircraft. It was from his father, himself a talented artist, that Nick acquired his love of drawing and surrounded by so much that was inspiring, there was never a shortage of ideas for pictures. His talent began to show at an early age and although he did well enough at school, he always spent a disproportionate amount of time drawing. People talked about him becoming a Naval officer or an architect but in 1975 Nick's mind was made up. When he told his careers teacher he wanted to go to art school the man said, 'Now come on, what do you really want to do? After leaving school Nick began a one-year foundation course at the Plymouth College of Art. Now armed with an impressive portfolio containing paintings of jet aircraft, trains, even wildlife, he was immediately accepted at every college he applied to join. He chose a course at the Falmouth College of Art in Cornwall specialising in technical illustration and paintings of machines and vehicles for industry. It was perfect for Nick, and he was to become one of the star pupils. One of the lecturers commented at the time: Every college needs someone with a talent like Nick to raise the standards sky high; he carried all the other students along with him, and created an effect which will last for years to come. Two weeks after leaving art college Nick blew every penny he had on a trip to South Africa to ride the great steam trains across the desert, sketching them at every opportunity. Returning to England, in best traditions of all young artists, he struggled to make a living. Paintings by an unknown artist didn't fetch much despite the painstaking effort and time Nick put into each work, so when the college he had recently left offered him a job as a lecturer, he jumped at the chance. The money was good and he discovered that he really enjoyed teaching. Throughout the 1970s Nick was much involved with a railway preservation society near Plymouth and it was through the railway society that he had his first pictures reproduced as prints. But Nick felt he needed to advance his career and in summer 1985 Nick moved away from Cornwall to join an energetic new design studio in Wiltshire. Here he painted detailed artwork for many major companies including Rolls Royce, General Motors, Volvo Trucks, Alfa Romeo and, to his delight, the aviation and defence industries. He remembers the job as exciting though stressful, often requiring him to work right through the night to meet a client's deadline. Here he learned to be disciplined and fast. Towards the end of the 1980's Nick had the chance to work for the Military Gallery. This was the break that for years he had been striving towards and with typical enthusiasm, flung himself into his new role. After completing a series of aviation posters, including a gigantic painting to commemorate the seventy-fifth anniversary of the Royal Air Force, Nick's first aviation scene to be published as a limited edition was launched by the Military Gallery in 1991. Despite the fact he was unknown in the field, it was an immediate success. Over the past decade Nick has earned a special reputation for giving those who love his work much more than just aircraft in his paintings. He goes to enormous lengths with his backgrounds, filling them with interesting and accurate detail, all designed to help give the aircraft in his paintings a tremendous sense of location and purpose. His landscapes are quite breathtaking and his buildings demonstrate an uncanny knowledge of perspective but it is the hardware in his paintings which are most striking. Whether it is an aircraft, tank, petrol bowser, or tractor, Nick brings it to life with all the inordinate skill of a truly accomplished fine art painter. A prodigious researcher, Nick travels extensively in his constant quest for information and fresh ideas. He has visited India, China, South Africa, South America, the Caribbean and travels regularly to the United States and Canada. He likes nothing better than to be out and about with sketchbook at the ready and if there is an old steam train in the vicinity, well that's a bonus!

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