Charles Dellschau

1830 - 1923

Dellschau is one of America’s earliest and greatest visionary artists.  In 1850, Dellschau emigrated to the US from his birthplace of Prussia and worked as a butcher near Houston, Texas. From 1908 – 1921, Dellschau created 12 notebooks that were not discovered until 1967. A junk dealer purchased them and stored them until 1969 when some college students discovered them and included the drawings in an exhibition focusing on flight called The Sky is the Limit. These mixed media drawings of primitive yet sophisticated flying machines were composed of ink and watercolor often collaged with newspaper clippings of the day. The flying machines “Aeros” and drawings, “press blooms” were identified by name and featured the aeros from various angles.  Each drawing was meticulously numbered, dated with month, day and year of its execution. As word got out of these mysteries and complex drawings, several prominent Texas museums acquired the scrapbooks. The drawings were deciphered by P.G. Navarro, a Houston “UFOlogist”. Navarro, in his 20 year study of the drawings, said that they contained designs from more than 100 distinct aircraft.  In his writings and codes, Dellschau stated that he belonged to a secret society of 60 individuals who gathered in the 1850s in Sonora, CA, where they founded an Aero club constructing and flying heavier than air vehicles.  Because of the secrecy of the club, it is believed that Dellschau kept his drawings hidden. Dellschau’s books claim that these Aeros were powered by “SUPE” which was derived from green crystals derived from coal. When mixed with water, they created hot gas to fly the aeros. The discovery of Dellschau’s drawings created a mystery that remains unsolved. Dellschau’s work remained obscure until 1996 when AVAM included his work in a major show, “The Wind In My Hair”. Over the last 25 years, top dealers and collectors have climbed aboard the Dellschau Aeros making him one of the top visionary artists. ⁷

Charles Dellschau is one of the earliest and intriguing outsider artists known in the US and his work is amongst some of the most favored in my collection.