Despite our electronic world, the USPS keeps the stamp market alive with licensed characters, commissioned illustrations, Legends of Hollywood to adorn their mini-canvas framed with a perforated edge (now kiss-cut) not for framing but for mailing or collecting. The Cowboys of the Silver Screen are commemorative stamps designed by Carl T. Herrman of North Las Vegas, Nevada. The interest is still going strong on the collectible side.
Katherine Hepburn received her stamp of approval on May 12th out of Old Saybrook, CT, where she spent most of her adult life. Her stamp is part of the Legends of Hollywood series.
On March 11, 2010, in Buffalo, New York, the Postal Service™ issued a 44–cent, Abstract Expressionists commemorative stamp in ten designs, designed by Ethel Kessler of Bethesda, Maryland. In celebration of the abstract expressionist artists of the 20th Century, Art Director Ethel Kessler and noted Art Historian Jonathan Fineberg (Gutgsell Professor Art History, University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign) selected ten paintings to feature on this colorful pane of self–adhesive stamps. Kessler used elements from Barnett Newman’s Achilles (1952) to frame the stamps. The arrangement of the stamps suggests paintings hanging on a gallery wall. For design purposes, the sizes of the stamp are not in relative proportion to the paintings. The pane also features selvage text and a quotation by Robert Motherwell. Each stamp includes the artist’s name and verso text that identifies the painting and briefly tells something about the artist.
List of Stamp Artwork
- The Golden Wall (1961) — Hans Hofmann (1880–1966)
- Romanesque Façade (1949) — Adolph Gottlieb (1903–1974)
- Orange and Yellow (1956) — Mark Rothko (1903–1970)
- The Liver Is the Cock’s Comb (1944) — Arshile Gorky (1904–1948)
- 1948–C (1948) — Clyfford Still (1904–1980)
- Asheville (1948) — Willem de Kooning (1904–1997)
- Achilles (1952) — Barnett Newman (1905–1970)
- Convergence (1952) — Jackson Pollock (1912–1956)
- Elegy to the Spanish Republic No. 34 (1953–1954) — Robert Motherwell (1915–1991)
- La Grande Vallée 0 (1983) — Joan Mitchell (1925–1992)
Custom design, artwork or photo images ready to mail visit zazzle. Cool concept — pricey.
Images:© Karl Heine/Cowboys, USPS/Katherine Hepburn and Abstract Expressionists
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I’ve always considered stamps to be miniature works of art… I love them!