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BEYOND THE STORM
by Anthony Saunders
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PART OF THE MUSTANGS OF THE MIGHTY 8th PORTFOLIO
When the American Eighth Air Force arrived
in England in 1942 they had a second enemy
to battle besides the Luftwaffe - the
English weather.
The mighty Eighth, the largest and most
powerful air force in the world, were on
many occasions almost paralyzed by the
unpredictable and unexpected climate -
much to the relief of the Luftwaffe. Many
of the aircrew had trained in the sunny
air of southern California and took time
to adjust to the grey, dismal skies, and
the rolling banks of cloud that gathered
over England and the near continent.
The winter of 1944 / 45 had been one of
the worst on record with temperatures
plunging across the whole country,
bringing with it ice, freezing fog and
drifting snow. But the war had gone on
oblivious to the weather, and by April
1945 the sunless, dreary skies that had
cast their frosty shadow over much of
north-west Europe were long gone and the
end was finally in sight.
This reflected the feeling amongst most of
Europe towards the war in general - the
storm was finally passing. Shortages of
fuel, pilots and spares meant that the
Luftwaffe was on its last legs, putting up
little serious opposition. By now, after
escorting the heavy bombers to their
targets, complete groups of P-51 Mustangs
were sweeping the entire western Reich on
the return trip, strafing anything hostile
on the ground. On one such mission fifteen
Fighter Groups had gone on a strafing
spree attacking 40 airfields in eastern
Bavaria and western Czechoslovakia,
claiming a record number of 747 aircraft
destroyed on the ground. There wasn't much
left for the P-51s to destroy.
In this pair of eye-catching pieces,
Anthony Saunders has chosen P-51s of the
Mighty Eighth's 352nd Fighter Group to
represent all those who flew Mustangs so
heroically with the US 8th Air Force from
England during WWII. In the first,
CHECKING OUT, the bad weather that has
dogged the past few days is thankfully
clearing, allowing the Group to begin
their dispersal from Bodney to take part
in an escort mission in early 1945. In the
second, BEYOND THE STORM, the bad weather
is, however, once again closing in as
Captain Ray Littge, flying his P-51D Miss
Helen, leads the 487th Fighter Squadron
back home over the familiar Suffolk
coastline in April 1945.
Each Print: Overall Size: 26 1/4" x 19 1/4" Image Size: 20 3/4" x 12 3/4"
Each print is hand numbered and personally signed by the artist, Anthony Saunders.
THE REMARQUE EDITIONS
Widely considered as some of the best and largest in the industry, Anthony's unique pencil remarques are individually created in the lower margin of the print. The first edition, consisting of 15 single sized remarques, are a perfect way to collect original art.
Created specially for the serious collector, the dramatic DOUBLE REMARQUES are much bigger than a standard remarque and exclusively restricted to just 10 copies worldwide. The demand for these superb creations is such that we urge you to reserve your remarques early to avoid disappointment.
Released as a pair with CHECKING OUT - each print is available individually or as a matching-numbered pair whilst stocks allow.
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THE LIMITED EDITION
US $105.00 UK £75.00
Edition Size - 225
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In Stock |
THE ARTIST PROOFS
US $160.00 UK £115.00
Edition Size - 25
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In Stock |
THE LIMITED EDITION PURCHASED AS A PAIR
US $175.00 UK £125.00
Edition Size - 225
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In Stock |
THE ARTIST PROOFS PURCHASED AS A PAIR
US $250.00 UK £180.00
Edition Size - 25
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In Stock |
THE REMARQUES
US $510.00 UK £365.00
Edition Size - 15
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In Stock |
THE DOUBLE REMARQUES (subject to availability)
US $795.00 UK £565.00
Edition Size - 10
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In Stock |
THE REMARQUES PURCHASED AS A PAIR
US $875.00 UK £625.00
Edition Size - 15
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In Stock |
THE DOUBLE REMARQUES PURCHASED AS A PAIR
US $1330.00 UK £950.00
Edition Size - 10
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In Stock |
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