Howard Koslow (1924 - 2016) "Contemporary Hot Air Balloons" Signed lower right. Original Acrylic painting on Illustration Board. Provenance: Collection of James A. Helzer (1946-2008), Founder of Unicover Corporation. This painting was published on the Fleetwood First Day Cover for the U.S. 20c Hot Air Ballooning stamp issued March 31, 1983. Just as there were, in the earliest of times, men who watched birds and tried to emulate their flight, there were other dreamers who sought some magic substance that would enable them to defy gravity and soar into the sky. These early dreamers were the first to harness the magic of hot-air ... capturing it in bags and using it to fly high, into the heavens. The art of Ballooning -- some two-hundred years old -- is truly the oldest kind of flying known to man. Except for some war-time applications ... such as the use of tethered balloons as observation posts, and of free flying balloons to get messages and important people out of besieged Paris in 1870 ... ballooning has always been essentially a sporting form of flight. Calm summer evenings are the most popular time for a balloon flight, which begins with the big balloon envelope being laid out, downward of the gondola. After a careful inspection of the whole airship, the narrow neck of the balloon is opened and fiery-hot air is forced into the gigantic envelope. The huge, lifeless balloon suddenly begins to take shape and soon the brightly colored envelope contains enough hot air to lift itself and its passenger high into the sky -- where noises of civilization are blotted out, and the soothing sounds of flowing breezes are company enough for anyone. Image Size: 14 x 12 in. Overall Size: 20.25 x 17.75 in. Unframed. (B07917)