Helen Gerardia
American, 1903-1988
Elevated Station
1952
Lithograph
Gift of Helen Gerardia, 1986.551
Gerardia lived in New York City and turned to the environment around her for the theme of this lithograph, Elevated Station. The primary features of an elevated station are evident: the stairs; the structure overhead constructed of posts, beams, and a peaked roof; a three-color traffic light at the upper left; and a street lamp at the upper right. Strong diagonals move from the lower left to the right as one would ascend the staircase, but space in this scene is fractured. Surfaces that are shadowed or ones that reflect light are transformed into active geometric shapes. Beams of light emanating from the fixtures appear as white scalene triangles or irregular quadrilaterals. Gerardia fills some of the shapes with patterns that look like rubbings of textured surfaces, and these patches seem to function as contour shading. Rather than creating a realistic representation, Gerardia conveys the sensation of being in a station where the light conditions are constantly changing and where vibrations and sounds are part of the experience. This lithograph is a signed artist proof, and it is fairly close to her final version with shades of red pigment added over some of the white areas and some of the patterned cells (https://americanart.si.edu/artwork/elevated-station-8934). That print will be part of an exhibition, Steel and Sky: Views of New York City, opening in March 2023 at the Smithsonian American Art Museum.
Bibliography
Campbell, Lawrence. "Helen Gerardia (Review of her show at the Bodley Gallery, March 4-16)." Art News 56, no. 1 (March 1957), 56.
Contemporary American Painting and Sculpture. Exhibition in Galleries, Architecture Building, College of Fine and Applied Arts, March 1-April 5, 1959. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press, 1959. Exhibition Catalogue.
Gerardia, Helen. "Fractured Landscape." Verostko Center for the Arts, St. Vincent College, Latrobe, PA, Website. Accessed Nov. 20, 2021. http://www.verostkocenter.org/fractured-landscape.html
Gerardia, Helen. Letter to Mary Slatnik, April 5, 1972. Invaluable Website, Lot 242: Helen Gerardia (1903-1988) Russian-born American painter. Accessed Nov. 26, 2021. https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot/helen-gerardia-1903-1988-russian-born-american-pa-242-c-3d44c24826
Helen Gerardia (1903-1993) (Record). Butler Art Collection, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160305153909/http://www.butlerartcollection.com/artist.php?artistId=1268
Helen Gerardia (Record). University of Montana Museum. Accessed Nov. 20, 2021. https://montanamuseum. pastperfectonline.com/bycreator?keyword=Gerardia%2C+Helen
Helen Gerardia: Artist File. Bodley Gallery information sheet about Helen Gerardia. Detroit Institute of Arts Research Library and Archives (vertical file: OCLC: 878053550).
Helen Gerardia Papers, 1951-1973. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution. (REEL 2812: 5-page resume listing exhibitions and collections of Gerardia's work).
Meeting the Moon. Exhibition at the Asheville Art Museum, Feb. 3, 2021-July 26, 2021. Accessed Nov. 20, 2021. https://www.ashevilleart.org/exhibitions/meeting-the-moon
Steel and Sky: Views of New York City. Exhibition at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Canceled-August 27, 2023. Accessed Sept. 7, 2023. https://a.asp.si.edu/Exhibitions/Details/Steel-and-Sky-Views-of-New-York-City-6506
"Steel and Sky: Views of New York City as Seen by Six Women Artists." Roosevelt Island Historical Society Website, August 10, 2020. https://rihs.us/2020/08/10/monday-august-10-2020-six-women-artists
20th - Century American Women Artists: Selections from the Permanent Collection at Dickinson College. Dickinson College Senior Seminar in Art History, Exhibition, Trout Gallery, Emil R. Weiss Center for the Arts, Dickinson College, January 22-February 20, 1999. Exhibition Catalogue.
Uhrhane, Jennifer. Vectors Artist Group. Libbie Mark Provincetown Fund Website. Accessed Nov. 25, 2021. http://libbiemark.com/vector-artist-group/