page_title: Alan Bean
section_title: Painting
hierarchical_section_title: Alan Bean / Painting
caption_attribution_description: English: A photo of Alan Bean in the National Air and Space Museum.
context_page_description: Alan LaVern Bean was an American naval officer and aviator, aeronautical engineer, test pilot, and NASA astronaut; he was the fourth person to walk on the Moon. He was selected to become an astronaut by NASA in 1963 as part of Astronaut Group 3.
  Before becoming an astronaut, Bean graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Aeronautical Engineering from University of Texas at Austin and re-joined the U.S. Navy—he served as an enlisted member for a year after his high school graduation. In 1956 he received his naval aviator wings, and served as a fighter pilot. In 1960 he graduated from the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School, flew as a test pilot and was The New Nine selection finalist in 1962.
  He made his first flight into space aboard Apollo 12, the second crewed mission to land on the Moon, at age 37 in November 1969. He made his second and final flight into space on the Skylab 3 mission in 1973, the second crewed mission to the Skylab space station.
context_section_description: Bean resigned from NASA in June 1981 to devote his time to painting. He said his decision was based on that, in his 18 years as an astronaut, he was fortunate enough to visit worlds and see sights no artist's eye, past or present, has ever viewed firsthand and he hoped to express these experiences through his art.
  As a painter, Bean wanted to add color to the Moon. "I had to figure out a way to add color to the Moon without ruining it," he remarked. In his paintings, the lunar landscape is not a monotonous gray, but shades of various colors. "If I were a scientist painting the Moon, I would paint it gray. I'm an artist, so I can add colors to the Moon", said Bean.
  Bean's paintings include Lunar Grand Prix and Rock and Roll on the Ocean of Storms, and he used real Moon dust in his paintings. When he began painting, he realized that keepsake patches from his space suit were dirty with Moon dust. He added tiny pieces of the patches to his paintings, which made them unique. He also used a hammer, used to pound the flagpole into the lunar surface, and a bronzed Moon boot to texture his paintings.
  In July 2009, for the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon landing, Bean exhibited his lunar paintings at the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum in Washington.
  But I'm the only one who can paint the Moon, because I'm the only one who knows whether that's right or not.
  — Bean describing his Moon painting capability
caption: Bean in his studio
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