Peter Helck

Many little boys—and some little girls—spend their spare time drawing automobiles and trains.  Peter Helck made it his life’s work.  Born in New York City in 1893, he witnessed the dawn of the automobile age.  In 1906, thirteen year-old Peter was one of a quarter-million people who watched the Vanderbilt Cup race.  Peter was back in 1908, this time seeing George Robertson drive Old 16 home to victory.

Peter Helck’s growing artistic skill led him to become a commercial artist, doing advertisements and magazine illustrations. He also painted for his own pleasure, often depicting automobiles. Gradually, Helck built up his reputation as a fine artist while keeping up a steady stream of commercial work. In 1941 Peter bought the race car he had seen as a boy—Old 16—and it became one of his favorite subjects.
           
Helck was a talented writer, and combined his skills to author and illustrate two books on racing, The Checkered Flag (1961) and Great Auto Races (1975).  Both demonstrate his uncanny ability to convey action.  His cars seem ready to burst off the page and roar past the viewer.  Helck had been there, and he put his audience there.

Peter Helck died in 1988.  He had seen the heroic age of the automobile, and captured it for all time.