Jun 09 2026

Mystery Friday Foto #23 Solved: A Peter Helck Illustration of a Vanderbilt Cup Race

Mystery Friday Foto #23 Solved: A Peter Helck Illustration of a Vanderbilt Cup Race

Did you identify Peter Helck's illustration of a race?

Identify;

  • The Artist

Peter Helck

  • The artists' book in which it was featured

The Checkered Flag

  • What does the illustration depict?

Spraying cold water for crowd control at the Vanderbilt Cup Races

  • Kudos- What is the race depicted?

The 1908 Vanderbilt Cup race

Comments (2)

Congrats and Kudos to Steve Lucas for identifying all the questions.

Greg O. 

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Illustration from Helck's book, 'The Checkered Flag'. The book, is Helck's recounting of the very earliest days of racing from the first Gordon Bennett Races through to the 1910 Vanderbilt Cup races with all the illustrations , as well as all the writing from Helck.

Note the small 'H' at the lower right of the artwork.

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The cover features one of Helck's most famous works, 'Robertson Comes Through' depicting George Robertson at speed on a turn in the 1908 Vanderbilt Cup races.

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In the Howard Kroplick art collection is one of the original preliminary sketches for the book's artwork.

The caption on the bottom reads;

1908 Vanderbilt

"Hosing the crowds"

On the top left corner is the page notation, 'Page 78'

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Turning to page 78 of the book, Helck describes the unruly crowds from the 1908 Vanderbilt Cup Races as well as the illustration that is the mystery photo.



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