Saturday, November 20, 2021

Feature Article on Peter Helck

Illustrator Peter Helck (1893-1988) is featured this month in an entire single issue of Illustration Magazine.

Photo by Alvis Upitis
Helck is best known for his paintings of the pioneers of auto racing.


But his career encompassed a lot of other categories, including historical reconstructions, story illustrations, industrial interiors, WWII battle scenes, and gallery landscapes.

Helck was one of the instructors from the Famous Artists School, and no one could match his ability to paint cars and trucks. 

Many of his exemplary preliminary drawings are included in the 112 page article. (The pictures in this post are typical of what's in the article, but not necessarily the same images.) 

 

Peter Helck, This is My Birthright

The article starts with 18 pages of illustrated biography, followed by 90 pages of pictures, mostly reproduced from original art or vintage tearsheets. 

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Learn more: Visit Illustration Magazine's website to learn more about the special issue. Read my previous post about Peter Helck and check out Peter Helck's memoirs online. More on Helck's Wikipedia page.

2 comments:

ArtistK said...

Very interesting, James.

Are you familiar with Ralph B Steele, another advertising artist who worked for Kimball International? He was an illustrator of both racing and aviation art. (Not the one with horses.) I remember seeing many of his works years ago in this area. He would extensively research the scenes he depicted, especially the racing accidents and could relate every detail of the famous accidents. His aviation scenes were also spectacular. Ralph was such a fun guy to know. He died over a decade ago but is still remembered fondly.

https://www.becherkluesner.com/obituaries/Ralph-B-Steele/#!/Obituary

David King said...

One of my favorite artists! Probably because I'm a car guy. :)