Welcome Back to Earth
Catalogue No. 23
Artist's CR 020
1963
London
Acrylic and oil on canvas, in a 'diamond' orientation
60 x 60 inches / 152 x 152 cm
Welcome Back to Earth commemorates the return of astronaut Gordon Cooper in May 1963 after completing twenty-two orbits of the earth on the last of the Mercury missions.
The original version of this painting (with a green background) was stolen from Laing’s Fournier Street studio in London while he was in New York. It was repainted (with a yellow background) for the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, ‘Images from Space’ exhibition, 1995.