After World War II, tourism in the Netherlands gained momentum thanks to reconstruction, rising prosperity, and increasing leisure time. During this period, in 1948, KLM became the first European airline to put the American Convair 240 into service. With a fleet of 12 aircraft, they flew various European routes until 1959. They could accommodate 40 passengers, meeting the growing demand from the burgeoning tourism industry. Fast forward to the year 2000. An office building called the Convair Building is being built at Schiphol East. Photographer Bert Teunissen is asked by KLM to contribute an art piece to this building. He searches for an original Convair 240 aircraft and finds one near Los Angeles. To keep the image of the aircraft as isolated as possible, he chooses to photograph it at night.
This results in several epic photos. The work was to be placed in the atrium of the Convair Building, reaching from the first to the fifth floor. However, while the series was being completed, the art project was cancelled, and the photos presumably disappeared into a basement. No one has ever seen the work. Until now.
Starting April 2nd, photographs of this vintage aircraft will be on display at the Kleine Gallery at Vliegtuigstraat 11, in the heart of the Schinkel district where the National Aerospace Research Institute was founded. Curator Jacqui Dolan has created an exhibition with Bert Teunissen that transports you back to a time you can hardly imagine today. Alongside his previously unseen photos of the Convair, the exhibition features historical images, technical drawings, scale models, and colorized video footage of one of its first flights.