On Monday, June 4, 1973, Braniff International announced one of the most historic and groundbreaking promotions in its history. Braniff Chairman of the Board of Directors Harding L. Lawrence announced that the Master of Modern Art and the inventor of the mobile and stabile art forms would paint a Braniff jetliner.
The design, dubbed Flying Colors of South America, would celebrate the carrier's service to South America. Braniff had been serving the Latin America region for the last 25 years, since June 4, 1948. It was a magnificent announcement to honor Braniff's silver anniversary of service to the region.
Calder's South America with Flying Colors design would be painted on one of seven McDonnell Douglas DC-8-62 Intercontinental Jets, which were the backbone of Braniff's Latin American fleet. This would be the first time in history that a Master Artist would paint an airliner. Mr. Calder was this century's only artist to create and practice his own art forms, which earned him the title of Master Artist.
Eight 1/25 scale Westway models were sent to Calder's Sache Studio in France. Here he painted them in eight colorful and vibrant South American themed different designs. Four of the models were put on display for the announcement that was held amidst great fanfare and press coverage at the famed Four Seasons Restaurant in New York City, on June 4. During the Summer of 1973, the models were traveling around the country for viewing by museum patrons. A final design was chosen to be applied to the Braniff DC-8 during the fall of 1973. The big jet would then begin service between the U.S. Mainland and South America shortly thereafter.
Mr. Lawrence stated, "As Alexander Calder sends his flying colors high this fall on his Braniff jet canvas for millions to see as an original work of art, we hope they will think of the colorful and exciting destinations to which the plane flies - South America - and thus they will understand the purpose of this happy combination of international travel, business and the arts."
On October 29, 1973, Alexander Calder's paint design for Braniff's McDonnell Douglas DC-8-62 registered as N1805 was rolled out of the Dallas Love Field Base and flown over to the new Dallas/Ft Worth Regional Airport for a fly-by. The aircraft was unveiled to hundreds of onlookers once it was parked on the ramp at the new The Braniff Terminal 2W.
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