Edward Hopper - Nighthawks

Edward Hopper (1882-1967) -  Nighthawks (1942)
USA 32c Stamp Issued 1998
Art Institute of Chicago

This is one of many artworks that appeared in a 1998 series of stamps issued in the USA.  Nighthawks is an instantly recognisable artwork that was popular since it was created in 1942, shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor.  The work is quite sinister in it's tone - conveying a certain emptiness about life in the 20th century - bright loud colours, garish accessories and dress, people huddled under florescent light, while darkness envelopes the deserted streets.  This piece was also used as a base for The Boulevarde of Broken Dreams poster that was popularised in the 1980s - the figures from this painting were replaced by Elvis Presley, James Dean and Marilyn Munroe.

Georges Rouault - The Dreamer

Georges Rouault (1871-1958) 'The Dreamer' (1946)

France Stamp issued 1971

Held at Centre Georges Pompidou. Paris. France

Rouault took up an apprenticeship as a glassmaker in his late teens - the similarity of many of his works to stained glass windows is often accredited to be due to this influence in his learly life.  He was instrumental in the Fauvism Movement. 


Fauvism, generally considered the first artistic revolution of the 20th Century, can be seen as a manifestation of the main impulses of the century: towards autonomy of colour and the intervention of the painter's emotions as a constituent part of the painting.  

- Extract from Chambers Arts Library - Modern Art by Edina Berdand

The fauves were one of the first movements in modern art, but they were less revolutionary than other movements, such as cubism and abstractionism.  Their work is mainly interested in colour, with less distortion of shapes - this is directly seen in the work depicted on this stamp.  

Rouault's work was exhibited in Australia in the 1950s, during an exhibition of modern French artists who were living at the time.  This exhibition was reviewed by the Sydney Morning Herald at the time, and it makes for interesting reading:  French Exhibition is Study in Modern Art (Links to Trove National Library of Australia Newspaper Archives).

Alexander Jackson - Yukon Territory Highway Near Kluane Lake

Alexander Jackson (1882-1974) - Yukon Territory Highway Near Kluane Lake (1943)

Canada Stamp issued 1982
National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa

Jackson, one of the founding members of  Canada's Group of Seven artists, was firstly a commercial artist in Chicago before he headed off to Paris to study Impressionist painting.  He traveled widely during his career, and primarily gained famed through his depictions of the Canadian landscape.   Yukon is depicted in full beuaty, but it is somewhat lonely and desolate at the same time.


This stamp was one of 12 modern art paintings that were depicted on Canada Day in 1982.  The stamps cover the ten provinces and 2 territories that make up Canada.  Rather ironically, A. Y. Jackson's work was used in this stamp issue, even though he made a prediction in 1946 that Canada would become part of the United States by 1971.  (Refer to news story here.)

Rita Angus - Tree

Rita Angus (1908-1970) - Tree (1943)

New Zealand 45c Stamp Issued 1983

Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa

This is one of four stamps issued in 1983 to depict the works of Rita Angus, one of New Zealand's most popular modern artists.  This work is simple and memorable.

Rita Angus painted this watercolour while staying at her sister’s house in Greymouth on the West Coast. When it rained for several days, she sat at the front window and sketched the cherry tree in the garden.

Angus may have identified with this solitary tree, about to break into bud with the arrival of spring. In the same week, she wrote: ‘I am very fortunate, it is as though my life is in two, I am beginning the second half, with a little wisdom from experience and knowledge, and a little genius. I am free to flower, if only for a few years.’ (Source: Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa)

Zainul Abedin - Levelling the Ploughed Field

Zainul Abedin  জয়নুল আবেদিন (1914-1976) - Levelling the Ploughed Field (1943)

Bangladesh 10T stamp issued 1986

Abedin work became famous during the Bengal famine of 1943, when he composed a number of sketches of life in the rural parts of Bangladesh.  This famine occurred during the middle of WWII after the fall of Singapore and the subsequent invasion of neighbouring Burma by the Japanese.  During this period of extreme hardship, Adebin's modern art gained wide recognition.

Frederick Varley - Self Portrait

Frederick Varley (1881-1969) - Self Portrait

Canada 17c Stamp issued 1981

Painting completed c. 1945

Varley was born in England but emigrated to Canada and was one of the "Group of Seven" painters.  He was critical of disapproved of extreme forms of abstract art as being untrue to nature and he was critical of Picasso, accusing him of "tearing the world apart" in his work.  

The Group of Seven artists worked in the early parts of the 20th Century to establish a distinct Canadian style of art that recognised the unique landscapes and challenges that were different to the European traditions.  This can be compared also to Heidelberg School in Australia that also manifested itself around the unique landscapes in the southern continent.

This is the first of three Canadian Stamp paintings that were issued in 1981.

Albert Namatjira - Simpson's Gap

Albert Namatjira (1902-1959) - Simpson's Gap

Australia 45c Stamp Issued 2002

Ngurratjuta Pmara Corporation Collection - Araluen Collection Alice Springs

This is one of four stamps issued to commemorate the life of Albert Namatjira in 2002.  The artist straddled between two western and aboriginal culture during his reasonable short life, producing a large number of works that depicted the local environment around his homeland of Alice Springs, in the outback of Australia.

Albert Namatijira, Mt Hermannsburg

Albert Namatijira, Mt Hermannsburg

Australia 45c Stamp Issued 2002