Painting represents the first powered manned flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina on December 17, 1903, by brothers Orville and Wilber Wright.
The aircraft never flew again due to damage sustained during landing, but was shipped home and subsequently restored by Orville. The aircraft was initially displayed in a place of honor at the London Science Museum until 1948 when the resolution of a dispute finally allowed it to be displayed in the Smithsonian Institute. It is now exhibited in the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.