LOOKING FOR NAGUMO
$725.00
Editorial View
The Gallery's Perspective
There’s an eerie stillness to this night flight—two A-6 Intruders glide through moonlit clouds with a hush that feels almost devotional. The painting’s limited, cool palette bathes the scene in midnight blues and soft silver highlights, making the aluminum skins and cockpit canopies read as quiet, purposeful silhouettes rather than gleaming hardware. Small touches of reflected moonlight along the fuselage and the cloud edges give the composition a hushed luminosity, while the low, layered landscape below suggests distance and the fragile calm beneath them. The pairing of the aircraft—one slightly ahead, one following—creates a sense of companionship and concentration, as if both craft share the same watchful focus. There’s an undercurrent of tension in the quiet: beauty and vulnerability sit together, and that paradox—flight’s grace against an implied danger—lingers after you look away.
The Artwork
About MOONLIGHT INTRUDERS
MOONLIGHT INTRUDERS. This Piece has been Hand-Signed by Craig Kodera.
It's 1968. The war in Vietman is being waged with all the technological might available to a Western nation. In the South China Sea, located at "Yankee Station" off the coast of North and South Vietnam, lies part of the U.S. Navy's Seventh Fleet. Tonight, two Grumman A-6A Intruders from Attack Squadron VA-35, the Blank Panthers, launch from their home carrier, the "Enterprise," to wage battle with forces of the North.
On this night, tropical rain has given way to the moon above and the flight crews are now flying by visual references and their altitude instruments which are glowing with the red night lights on the panel. The North Vietnamese radars are sweeping the sky for targets. Peasants will fire hand held rifles at the passing noise of the fighters. Anti-aircraft guns and SAMs lurk around the next bend in the river. But for now, all is tense quiet. One more moment to gaze at the beauty which is flying. It's really paradoxical, something as stunningly lovely as flight, mixed with the arresting starkness of war. Many are the combat veterans who found themselves questioning the validity of their perceptions.
Collector Details
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About the Collection
Craig Kodera is a renowned aviation artist, celebrated for his realistic aircraft paintings and historical flight artwork. With a background as both a pilot and illustrator, his work captures the precision, power, and beauty of aviation from a uniquely informed perspective. Specializing in military aviation art, commercial airliner illustrations, and vintage aviation scenes, Kodera’s fine art aviation prints are sought after by pilots, collectors, and aerospace enthusiasts. His ability to blend technical accuracy with artistic storytelling makes his work a stunning tribute to the world of flight.
Artist Signature
Signed by the artist
This piece is artist signed and includes a Certificate of Authenticity.
Image Rights
Image copyright © 2026 by Craig Kodera.
Authorized Source
Authenticity & Documentation
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Aviation is this artist s living. Painting is a joy and a choice; not his career. Craig Kodera career is as an airline pilot, so each of his paintings reflect an intimate knowledge of how it feels to fly and what it looks like out the cockpit. "I paint what I see," he says,"and my office window is at 35,000 feet." An appreciation of aviation came easy, since Kodera was raised in what he terms an "aviation family," which included an uncle who flew with the famous Doolittle Raiders during World War II. At an age when most teens were trying to ace the driver s test, Kodera had earned his private pilot s license. A love of painting also came early. Kodera started seriously studying it at fourteen. He graduated from UCLA with a degree in mass communications and spent a year as a commercial artist before joining the Air Force Reserve, where he was assigned to the Air Rescue Service and then the Strategic Air Command. There his knowledge of air war history grew while he logged literally thousands of hours flying. Eventually Kodera left the service and joined American Airlines. When he isn t flying, he s usually painting. His artwork is part of the Smithsonian Institution s National Air and Space Museum permanent collection and hangs in many museums. He is also the charter vice president of the American Society of Aviation Artists, a member of the Air Force Art Program and serves with the Los Angeles Society of Illustrators.
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