Frank and Jules VanDersarl were born and raised in Denver, CO. They were only twelve and fourteen when, in 1909, they set their minds towards building their own flying machine. With little money, however, purchasing a fully built aircraft was out of the question. What the brothers did posses, though, were impressive mechanical and engineering skills and so they purchased a set of plans and built their own Blériot from scratch. By June 3, 1911, the brothers’ creation was completed and on June 10 they towed it to a field in Sable (now Aurora), Colorado, for its inaugural flight.
Up With the Dawn depicts an early morning flight of the VanDersarl brothers’ homebuilt Blériot. As the first rays of the day strike the front range, Jules makes a slow, gentle turn to the north to bring the aircraft to the landing field.
The VanDersarl Blériot has survived for over a century and is now part of the Smithsonian Air and Space collection on display at the Udvar Hazy center near Washington DC.
Medium: Oil on Linen on Panel
Artwork Size: 25″W x 14″H
Framed Size: 29″W x 18″H
Artist: Russell Smith
