Space Trip II

oil on canvas, 92 x 102 cm. [with frame: 96 x 106 cm.]

signed and annotated at the back

literature: “Helen Gerardia. An Introduction” (ill. p. 130)

provenance: The Helen Gerardia Estate through Ronald Borsack, New York

(inv. HG 030)

To be dated mid 1960s

€ 15,000

“Ever since the first orbit, I have been fascinated by the limitlessness of outer space. This resulted in a series of space themes,” Helen Gerardia writes. And, indeed, several paintings by her hand on space-related themes manifest after 1961, the year that the Russian Yuri Gagarin became the first human to journey into outer space. A critic writes: “She creates the illusion of speed, flashing astral bodies and a feeling of the unknown.” Helen’s dream in paint becomes even more specific in Space Trip II ( HG 030) and in Flight (HG 223): She hoped to travel to these places, before Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos with their ambition to explore outer space, were even born.

Yuri Gagarin was the first space traveler. Was Helen Gerardia the first space traveler in paint?

 

Back to works