Painting Planes: The Aviation Art of Don Connolly

David Mattison is a librarian with the B.C. Provincial Archives and
Records Services Library.

The artist, who is also the author, has a background in aviation, and his love and experience of the sky and aircraft are brought out in his paintings. The book represents, according to the publisher, the first Canadian book on aviation art.

The text is actually an autobiography illustrated on nearly every page with examples of Connolly’s work in colour and black and white. The paintings also have separate extensive captions summarizing the history of the image and sometimes the aircraft itself.

In addition to covering his personal history, the artist discusses the genesis of a painting, the research required to authenticate as closely as possible actual events depicted in the historical paintings he has done, and a discussion of aviation art as art and why it has not been to date as popular as other artistic subject matter.

All the paintings include titles, materials used, dimensions, and a date. In a couple of instances the caption date does not match the date on the reproduction itself. Although no index is included, there is a list of major paintings by aircraft type. Five blank pages headed “Notes” end the book. As a first of its kind, this book deserves a place in libraries.