William Kenneth Hartmann (born in 1939), is an internationally renowned astronomer, planetary scientist, artist, and writer. He is a member of NASA's Mars Global Surveyor mission team. In 1971-72 he was on the Mariner-9 mission team which first mapped many geological features on Mars. Asteroid number 3341 is named after him in recognition of his planetary research. In 1997 he was the first recipient of the Carl Sagan Medal for Excellence in Public Communication in Planetary Science from the American Astronomical Society, Division for Planetary Sciences. His art work has been featured in many books, magazines, and international exhibits.
William Hartmann has written and illustrated (often collaboratively with Ron Miller) numerous books on the history of Earth and the Solar System. Some of his books and publications include, Moons and Planets, Astronomy: The Cosmic Journey, The Grand Tour: A Travelers Guide to the Solar System, Out of the Cradle, The History of Earth: An Illustrated Chronicle of an Evolving Planet, In The Stream of Stars: The Soviet-American Space Art Book, and others. He has also written two science fiction books, Cities of Gold, and Mars Underground.
William Hartmann has long been one of America's leading space artists. He follows in the tradition of his grandfather, a Swiss landscape painter. His grandfather, Andreas Hartmann, was born in Bretz (Castels), Switzerland in 1868. He grew up in Buchen, worked in Davos, and emigrated to the US in 1892. He produced a large number of oils and watercolors of US landscapes. William Hartmann's astronomical paintings cover a wide variety of themes and are known for their realism and technical accuracy. His paintings are on display in collections in the U.S, Russia, Japan, England, France, and Italy, and have been on exhibit at the National Air and Space Museum. He is a Fellow of the International Association of Astronomical Artists (IAAA).
His website offers a gallery of his paintings, a description of his research work, and information about his books, and publications. Be sure to check out the full catalog of his works. Below are a selection of his space artworks. Click images view full size.
Note: All artwork and images are copyrighted. Please do not use images without the permission.
Link: Bill Hartmann's Home Page
