1969

Miles Mars

1969 has sparked a time of new beginnings with the first people to land on the moon! America beats the Soviet Union in taking the first human to the moon! This new groundbreaking event has made a huge impact on culture and art. This has also inspired the world to get even more into Sci-Fi and the future of technology. Besides space, this year has had many significant social and political changes. The Civil Rights Movement, feminism, and the growing anti-Vietnam War movement are some of the many important historical events that have gone on this year. Another specific event besides the lunar landing was The Woodstock Music & Art Fair which was held in Bethel, New York last August. This event attracted an estimated 400,000 attendees over four days from the fifteenth to the eighteenth with dozens of acts. This year has just really been a milestone for America, but also the world in general. All of these things have been great inspiration for creativity and learning. There have been a plethora of pop art, collage art, op art, minimalism, conceptual art, performance art, comics, music, cartoons, and so much more. Society needs art to thrive. This year has been an important time in history and without the creativity and movements that have happened from this year and the past, society would not be able to flourish. There is beauty and there is pain in this world and without art we would not be able to capture what the world is going through.

Apollo 11: The Moon Landing. The Moon Landing | National Air and Space Museum. (2021, July 29). https://airandspace.si.edu/explore/stories/apollo-11-moon-landing

Hawker, A. (2023, November 25). 50 facts about woodstock. Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum. https://www.musicianshalloffame.com/50-facts-about-woodstock/

P, S. (2025, April 2). Art in the 1960s: Movements that redefined modern aesthetics. Artsper Magazine. https://blog.artsper.com/en/a-closer-look/art-in-the-1960s/#:~:text=In%20visual%20art%2C%20movements%20such,and%20use%20of%20industrial%20materials.

Robert Rauschenberg

This year Robert Rauschenberg is beginning his artwork series of lithographs called Stoned Moon. The three shown below are the ones that he has made in 1969. These artworks were inspired by the launch of the Apollo 11. Rauschenberg had the honor to be invited to attend this historical event. The artworks have photographs from NASA, as well as drawings the artist made on lithography stones with water-based tusche and crayon.

Stoned Moon (1969–70). Stoned Moon (1969–70) | Robert Rauschenberg Foundation. (n.d.). https://www.rauschenbergfoundation.org/art/galleries/series/stoned-moon-1969-70

Stoned Moon Drawing

This artwork has thirty-four lithographs and nineteen drawings and collages. On the right shows the rising smoke from the rocket launch and also the boot prints from the first steps on the moon.

Stoned Moon | Robert Rauschenberg Foundation. (n.d.). https://www.rauschenbergfoundation.org/art/art-context/stoned-moon

Banner (Stoned Moon)

This artwork is the cover of the Stoned Moon series. This artwork has the state seal of Florida on it with the state's signature fruit, oranges. Everything in this artwork is to represent Cape Canaveral which was where the Apollo 11 was launched from.

Stoned Moon | Robert Rauschenberg Foundation. (n.d.). https://www.rauschenbergfoundation.org/art/art-context/stoned-moon

Sky Garden (Stoned Moon)

This artwork used two lithographic stones, four aluminum plates, and a silkscreen. This lithograph was the largest ever made with it being eighty-nine inches tall. This artwork is meant to capture the experience of getting to see the Apollo launch. This artwork includes astronauts, space suits, machinery, tourist maps, orange crate labels, and many other things.

Sky Garden (stoned moon). SFMOMA. (2025, March 16). https://www.sfmoma.org/artwork/77.102.27/#:~:text=the%20artist%20sought.-,At%20eighty%2Dnine%20inches%20in%20height%2C%20Sky%20Garden%20was%20the,of%20the%20Apollo%20launch%20experience.

David Bowie: SpACE ODDity

Ground Control to Major Tom! David Bowie released a groundbreaking new single days before the lunar landing. With the anticipation of the astronauts landing back safely, the BBC refused to play the song the radio until they were back on Earth. The song was inspired by 2001: A Space Odyssey, one of Bowie's favorite films about the future. The song itself is about the astronaut, Major Tom, having a hard time in space getting lost in the darkness, away from home, searching for the stars. It seemed like a mood killer for the mission, but once the mission was successful this song became an anthem for this historical event.

Dowling, S. (2022, February 24). How David Bowie was banned during the Moon landing. BBC News. https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20190716-how-david-bowie-was-banned-during-the-moon-landing

Other Artworks From THis year

“Three Studies of Lucian Freud” Francis Bacon

Park West Gallery. (2019, May 14). 50 years later: Looking back at the major art news of 1969. https://www.parkwestgallery.com/50-years-major-art-news-1969/

"Snakes" M.C. Escher

Masterpiece: Snakes. Museum Escher in The Palace. (2023, April 6). https://www.escherinhetpaleis.nl/showpiece/snakes/?lang=en

"Gospel Song" Romare Bearden

Johnson, P. (2019, January 21). 50 years on, the art that defined 1969 is more relevant than ever. Observer. https://observer.com/2019/01/1969-art-50-year-anniversary-sol-lewitt-romare-bearden-philip-guston/

"Edge of Town" Philip Guston

In Depth Article About 1969: A Year in History: Timeline of 1969 Events | Historic Newspapers

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