Skydreamers: History of Flight Exhibition in Los Angeles

The fantasies and realities of flight and space exploration, as depicted through art and photography in the West and around the world, went on display in the Autry National Center’s new 'Skydreamers' exhibition in Griffith Park, Los Angeles. The exhibit focuses on the history of flight as seen through the eyes of photographers and artists throughout the years. More than 150 items are on display, including rare original high-quality photographs, as well as works on paper, paintings, posters, and memorabilia drawn primarily from the extensive collection of flight and space material in the Stephen White collection. The exhibition will run from April 29 through August 21, 2011.
Below is a handful of exhibit displayed in the exhibition.

Balloon ascension, Ferndale, California. Unknown photographer, 1871

In his now classic book "Birdflight as the Basis of Aviation", published in 1889, Otto Lilienthal put forward his own theories about flights on the basis of studying the structure of bird wings and aerodynamics of bird flight.  He built this glider 1918 and became famous inspiration for Orville Wilbur Wright, who had studied his technique.

Roy Knabenshue’s airship in flight above the Raymond Hotel in Pasadena, California. 1912

Stunt pilot Art Smith was famous for his acrobatic flights and the use of flares during the night.  This display he showed in the closing night of the International Exhibition in San Francisco in 1915

The famous aviator Charles Lindbergh with his airplane Spirit of St. Louis in the background, shortly after the completion of its first nonstop flight across the Atlantic in May 1927.  Now the plane in Washington, Smithsonian Museum of Space

In 1934, Los Angeles was preparing for the opening of the Griffith Park Observatory.  In this photo, Roger Haywood creates a replica of the moon, scaled down to 11 meters.

Portrait of Amelia Earhart inside the cockpit of hee aircraft in early 1937. In 1932, Earhart became the first woman to fly solo over the Atlantic Ocean. In July 1937, she disappeared while attempting to fly around the world. Her disappearance is one of the biggest unsolved mysteries in flight history.

Robert Doisneau was a famous French photographer, famous for his ability to whip up pictures of funny situations of everyday life, including this classic shot in 1934.

Amusement parks and fairs often imitated the latest inventions of mechanics, including cars, boats and airplanes. In this photo visitors pose in an imitation aircraft created to appear as if the it’s flying high above the ground.

If earthlings have decided to go into space, why not aliens visiting our planet?  This shot is from a movie during 1950's, released in the days of madness about flying saucers

“Answer from God” a picture that accompanied a series of articles and illustrations published in the Japanese newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun in 1957.

Valentina Tereshkova, the first woman in space, trying on her helmet before her historic flight in June 1963.

The famous 1969 photo of astronaut Buzz Aldrin with Neil Armstrong reflected in his helmet and the Lunar lander in the background. This picture is the 3D version made to viewed on View-master.

Charles Duke of Apollo 16 became the 10th man on the moon. In this photo Charles had placed a photograph of his family on the lunar surface and had photographed it.