The Philatelic Bureau of MaltaPost will be issuing a philatelic commemorative set of three stamps titled ‘Christmas 2010′ on the 9th November 2010. This year’s Christmas set reproduces Old Master paintings depicting the Madonna and Child.

The philatelic stamps which values €0.19, €0.37 and €0.63 reproduce the paintings ‘The Adoration of the Magi’ from Lombard Bank Head Office Valletta, ‘The Flight into Egypt’ from Gozo Cathedral Museum and ‘Madonna di Maggio’ from St. George’s Basilica, Gozo respectively.

An amount of 1,600,000 stamps carry a face value (read more)

published November 8th, 2010

On 24th September post Slovenia have issued a range of stamps and also a new definitive set.

 The Fauna series will feature four snakes, the asp viper, the smooth snake, the grass snake and the horned viper. These snakes are listed as protected species in accordance with International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) guidelines. The most endangered species among these snakes is the asp viper. As usual, three of the stamps are printed in sheets of 25 stamps, and one (the horned viper) in single-stamp blocks.

 The Art series continues with paintings from the Realism period. The motif on the stamp is The Letter, a painting from 1878, the work of painter Janez Šubic, who together with his brother Jurij was one of the most important Slovenian Realist painters. The painting is an example of an experimental artist who created an intimate study based on a Realist foundation for a portrait of his cousin Ivan. The painting is kept at the National Gallery in Ljubljana.

(read more)

published October 7th, 2010

On the eve of National Hispanic Heritage Month, Julia de Burgos, one of Puerto Rico’s most celebrated poets, was recognized by the Postal Service today on a 44-cent stamp at the Teatro Tapia, one of the oldest drama stage buildings in the U.S. An award-winning writer and journalist, Julia de Burgos takes her place among honorees in the Postal Service’s Literary Arts series and with 75 other Hispanic-themed stamps.

“Today, the Postal Service honors Julia de Burgos, a revolutionary writer, thinker, and activist,” said Jordan Small, Postal Service area vice president, Northeast Area, during the first-day-of-issue stamp ceremony. “Dr. de Burgos wrote more than 200 poems that probe issues of love, feminism, and political and personal freedom. Her groundbreaking works urged women, minorities and the poor to defy social conventions and (read more)

published September 25th, 2010

 The U.S. Postal Service will pay tribute to Winslow Homer, an American artist honoring his works with the issuance of a commemorative stamp. The stamp, which is the ninth in the American Treasures series, features Boys in a Pasture, an 1874 oil-on-canvas painting by Homer.

Winslow Homer (1836-1910) is considered one of the greatest American painters of the 19th century. Born in Boston, Massachusetts, he began a two-year apprenticeship in a lithography shop at the age of 19 and afterwards became a freelance illustrator. In 1859, he moved to New York City, where he (read more)

published August 15th, 2010

Alfons Maria Mucha (1860–1939) was a Czech painter, graphic artist and illustrator and is regarded as one of the most important representatives of the Jugendstil. On the occasion of the 150th anniversary of his birth, the Austrian Post Office is now issuing a special commemorative, with a motif showing the work entitled “La Plume” (colour lithograph, original size 64.5 x 48 cm).

Mucha, who began his career as a self-taught artist, was rejected by the Prague Academy of Arts. From 1879 to 1881, he therefore attended a Vienna school for stage decoration, while at the same time going to evening classes in drawing. In 1882, he received his first major commission, namely the interior design of the neobaroque Moravian palace of Emin Zámek near Hrušovany nad Jevišovkou; subsequently, Mucha executed further paintings in

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published July 29th, 2010

Italy Post is issuing a magnificent stamp on the 16th July 2010 named ‘Il Carvaggio’

David with the Head of Goliath is a painting by the Italian Baroque artist Caravaggio. It is housed in Rome. The painting, which was in the collection of Cardinal Scipione Borghese in 1613, has been dated as early as 1605 and as late as 1609–1610, with more recent scholars tending towards the latter.

The stamp is being sold at 0.60 euros only and fourmillion copies have been produced.

Its a really elegant and historical stamp which Italian collectors willno doubt enjoy adding to their collections

published July 14th, 2010

A joint issue is the release of styamps by two or more countries to commemorate the same topic, event or person of relevance to both countries. Joint issues typically have the same day of issue and their design is often similar or identical, except for the identification of country and value. Nowadays more and more countries are issuing these stamps as a way of cooperating with each other and more and more collectors are rightly started to add these stamps to their own collections. The Issue date of this recent joint stamp issue between Portugal and Romania was the 30.06.2010.

 In 1880, Portugal recognized Romania’s independence. Celebrating the 130th anniversary of this event, Romfilatelia introduces into circulation the joint stamp issue entitled „Ceramics – Tiles“.

Magic of fire and mystery of the clay moistened by the life-giving water, the (read more)

published July 2nd, 2010

A magnificent set of 4 stamps featuring different paintings by different famous artists.

The € 1,00 stamp depicts Botticelli’s work of art, “The Birth of Venus” (1485-88), commissioned by Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco de’ Medici to adorn Villa di Castello in the Florentine countryside. In this work, Botticelli uses cold, light colours, with a perfect harmony between the painting’s linear rhythm and the plastic representation of the figures, the all immersed in an evanescent, dim light. This painting, tempera on canvas (172,5 x 278,5 cm.), hangs in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence.

 The € 1,40 stamp depicts “The Tempest” by Giorgione da Castelfranco Veneto. (read more)

published June 27th, 2010

Issue Date: 2nd July 2010.

 In my opinion, [Prudence Heward] was the very best painter we ever had in Canada and she never got the recognition she richly deserved in her lifetime. I wanted her to join the Group of Seven, but like the Twelve Apostles, no women were included.” A.Y. Jackson, founding member of the Group of Seven

In the age of the landscape painting, when little credibility was given to the female artist, Montréal-born Prudence Heward (1896–1947) broke popular artistic trends and gender conventions, gaining unusual distinction as a representational figure painter. Well aware of woman’s then-marginal place in the art world, Heward’s works examine and redefine the female artist. Her studies of strong, serious, defiant women set in metaphorical landscapes made her one of the most celebrated artists in Canada during the first half of the 20th century.

Heward’s formal art (read more)

published June 26th, 2010

To mark the 150th anniversary of the birth of artist Roderic O’Conor, An Post issued two stamps on 27 May, 2010.

Roderic O’Conor (17 October 1860 – 18 March 1940) was an Irish Painter. O Connor lived fr many year in Paris and his method of painting with textured strokes of contrasting colours owed much to Van Gogh. 

The stamps depict a painting of The Breton Girl, Bretonne, c.1903-1904 (oil on canvas) and a self portrait, 1928, (oil on board). The stamps and first day cover were designed by Ger Garland.

Source: An Post

published May 27th, 2010