Paul Calle, 82, an artist who chronicled the space program and later the fur-trade era of the American West died on December 30, 2010 at the Richard L. Rosenthal Hospice Residence from complications of melanoma. Calle was born in New York City and was a longtime resident of Stamford, Connecticut. Educated at Pratt Institute in New York City, he began his career as an illustrator and his work appeared in Time, National Geographic, Boy's Life and McCalls, among many publications. He was a long time member of the Society of Illustrator's in New York City.
Calle was one of the original eight artists in the NASA Art Program, established in 1962 to record American space exploration. He was the only artist present during the pre-launch breakfast and suiting up at Cape Canaveral for the historic Apollo 11 first manned mission to the moon. In 1974 he accompanied Apollo astronauts to Star City in the Soviet Union
to document their training with cosmonauts for the joint Appollo-Soyuz space mission.
Calle's drawings, sketches and paintings of the space program are on exhibit in the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum and the National Gallery. In 1969, Calle designed the First Man on the Moon postage stamp, one of over 40 US postage stamps he designed during his career.
In the mid-1970s Calle began to paint and draw the historic American West of the 1800s. He was particularly interested in depicting the lives of the mountain men of the fur trade era and many of his drawings and paintings reflect that subject. Reflecting on this seemingly dramatic shift in subject matter, Calle said "I have always likened the image of the mountain man John Colter, his moccasin clad foot first steeping on the newly fallen snow of Yellowstone Valley, to the Moon boot of Neil Armstrong, steeping in the dust of the Moon's surface at the Sea of Tranquility...two worlds apart yet each at the edge of a new frontier..."
The bulk of Calle's Western art is held in private collections. His work is part of the permanent collection at Gilcrese Museum in Tulsa, Oklahoma and Booth Museum in Cartersville, Georgia and was exhibited at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City.
Calle authored or was the subject of three books. In The Pencil he wrote about the craft and technique of drawing with graphite pencil. Paul Calle, An Artist's Journey chronicled his artistic career centering on the portrayal of the Mountain Men and Native American Indians of the American West. Written by Calle’s son Chris, Celebrating Apollo 11, The Art of Paul Calle tells the story of his years as a NASA artist during the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo years.
Paul was predeceased by his beloved wife, Olga Wyhowanec Calle. He is survived by his children, Claudia Calle Beal and husband Ron, of Waco, Texas, Paul Peter Calle and his wife, Ellen, of Danbury, Connecticut and Christopher Calle and his wife, Jacqueline, of Ridgefield,
Connecticut. He also is survived by his six grandchildren Nathaniel Beal, Elizabeth Calle, Katherine Calle, Paul Richard Calle, Ian Calle and Arianna Calle.
Visitation will be on Sunday, January 2, 2011 at Leo P. Gallagher & Son Funeral Home, 2900 Summer St, Stamford. A Mass of the Christian burial will be celebrated on January 3, 2011 at St. Gabriel Catholic Church, 914 Newfield Avenue, Stamford. Interment will be at Queen of Peace Cemetery. In lieu of flowers donations may be made in Paul’s memory to SmileTrain, PO Box 96231, Washington, D.C. 20090 or www.SmileTrain.org.
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