overflying the alps

Oskar "Oski" Bider (1891-1919) was one of the first and most important Swiss aviation pioneers and began his aviation training in 1912 in Pau, France, where he was trained in the aviation school of the famous French aviator Louis Blériot. Bider achieved public awareness for the first time after he was the first to fly across the Pyrenees from Pau to Madrid. However, he was driven by his goal to be the first human to cross the Alps by plane, since he heard about the failed attempt of the Peruvian-French flying pioneer Geo Chavez.
My painting shows the moments after the most difficult part of the Alpine crossing was done, namely the climb over the Jungfraujoch on the morning of July 13, 1913. After a refueling stop in Domodossola, Bider was able to continue crossing the Alps and reached his destination which was Milan. This made him the first person to completely fly over the Alps.
Bider later became the chief pilot of the newly founded Swiss air force. In 1919 Bider died in a plane crash after a night of partying, although it is still not clear whether it was a suicide or an accident