In search of realist or naturalist paintings of ballooning and early powered flight. Some surprises, and paintings by Watteau, Puvis de Chavannes, and Henri Rousseau.
Friant
After a series of major paintings in the 1890s, he devoted himself to print-making. An aviation enthusiast, he painted ballooning, and an early air ambulance.
Trained in the same studio as Bastien-Lepage and Gervex, he emerged a bitter critic of academic painting. He painted several masterpieces of Naturalism.
The Eclectic Light Company 