J. Thézard Wilbur Wright in Flight

Photographs from The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Sold to Benefit Acquisition Funds
J. Thézard
1884 - 1957
Wilbur Wright in Flight

gelatin silver print, on a double paper mount, signed and dated '25 February 1909' by Wilbur Wright on the primary mount
image: 4¼ by 6¼ in. (10.8 by 15.9 cm.)
Executed in 1908, printed in 1909.

Condition Report:
Please note the colors and shades in the online catalogue illustration may vary depending on screen settings.

This print is in generally fair condition. There is age appropriate silvering throughout. Liquid stans and fingerprints are visible upon close examination. There are horizontal scratches not breaking the emulsion in the upper portion of the image. There is minute edge chipping.

There are adhesive and paper remnants on the mount. The primary mount is age darkened. There is an illegible annotation in red pencil on the reverse.

Catalogue Note:
The authorship of this photograph - documenting Wilbur Wright’s failed attempt to break a world record for longest flight duration in the Wright Flyer III. - was long a mystery. Made at dusk, just as the window for record-breaking was closing, it is a dramatic scene of early aviation. Its authorship is confirmed by another print of this image, also in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, that is signed "J. Thézard, Phot."

Provenance:
Christie's, South Kensington, 11 May 2001, Sale 9087, Lot 251

Collection of the Joy of Giving Something Foundation

Phillips, New York, The Odyssey of Collection: Photographs from Joy of Giving Something Foundation, 4 April 2017, Sale 40217, Lot 77

Acquired from the above by the present owner