Vida Lahey - Beach Umbrellas

Vida Lahey (1882-1968) - Beach Umbrellas (1933)
Australia $1.20 Stamp Issued 1995
Queensland Art Gallery

Vida Lahey was Queensland born, although she studied in London before WWI and lived in Paris afterwards, training at Colarossi's Academy.  As a modernist artist in Australia at the time, she was instrumental in promoting the arts on Queensland and supporting the Queensland Art Gallery.  This is one of many colourful paintings that depicts Australian beach and seaside life that is typical of Queensland and northern New South Wales - there is plenty of colour and light.

Lahey was also trained by Frederick McCubbin.  Lahey's painting "Fruit and Flowers" was used for another stamp in 2011.

Hans Heysen - A Cottage Bunch

Hans Heysen - A Cottage Bunch (1930)
Australia 60c Stamp Issued 2011
Held at the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne

Roy de Maistre - Still Life, Zannias

Roy de Maistre - Still Life, Zannias (1930)
Australia 60c Stamp Issued 2011
Held at the National Gallery of Victoria

This is an early piece of work by one of Australia's most successful overseas artists, Roy de Maistre.  Although he was successful within Australia, De Maistre would later go on to live in London, where some of his work would eventually be purchased by the Tate Gallery and he would be commissioned to paint the Stations of the Cross for Westminster Cathedral.  

He has an interest in the harmonisation of music and colour throughout his life.  The artists was originally studying music, but he suffered badly from tuberculosis at many stages of his life, eventually causing him to concentrate of painting.

Nora Heysen - A Bunch of Flowers

Nora Heysen (1911-2003) - A Bunch of Flowers (1930)
Australia 60c Stamp Issued 2011
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne

Nora Heysen was the fourth child of Hans Heysen, who was one of Australia's most famous war artists in World War I.  Nora also became an artist, studying in Adelaide, before going on to become the first woman to win the Archibald Prize in 1938.  She also followed her father as a war artist, completing 170 works of art in WWII.


This is one of her still life works, issued as part of a series of still life works of flowers by Australia Post in 2011.

Arnold Shore - Camellias

Arnold Stone (1897-1963) - Camellias (1937)
Australia 60c Stamp Issued
Held at the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne

This is the first of five 2011 stamps that have been issued by Australia Post, showing five works of still life art from the National Gallery of Victoria.  They have been gathered from the heyday of still life art that was taking place in the 1920s and 1930s in Australia.   

Arnold Stone was born in Melbourne and he was trained as an artists by Frederick McCubbin during the early stages of his career.  They parted ways, and eventually he went on to run a school in Melbourne with Max Meldrum, were they taught student modernist principles in painting.

Marc-Aurele Fortin - A La Baie Saint Paul

Marc-Aurele Fortin (1888-1970)  - A La Baie Saint Paul (1939)

Canada 17c Stamp Issued 1981

Fortin experimented with a marge number of mediums during his lifetime, and he was not popular amongst his contemporaries during his career.  The artist spent much of his time working in solitude, although he did study in France in the 1930s.  He is mainly known for his bright watercolours that depicted Quebec in a new and modern style, even though many of his works depicted traditional rural scenes.

Rita Angus - Wanaka Landscape

Rita Angus (1908-1970) - Wanaka Landscape (1939)

New Zealand 35c Stamp Issued 1983

Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa

This is an earlier work by Rita Angus, who was featured in 4 stamps that were issued in 1983.   Wanaka is in the south central region of New Zealand's South Island.  This painting was completed by the artist on one of many trips that were made to this part of the country, as she was studying and working in Christchurch.

L.S. Lowry - Children Coming Out Of School

L.S. Lowry (1887-1976) - Children Coming out of School (1927)

Great Britain Stamp issued 1967

20th Century Painting Series

Lawrence Stephen Lowry secretly held down a day job, while also being a famous painter during his lifetime, living around the Manchester area of England in the 20th Century.  This stamp was issued while we was still alive.  His works depict working class life in the north of England during the height of the industrial revolution. The Lancashire Local History website gives a lot more information about this artist.

Grace Cossington-Smith - The Bridge In Curve

Grace Cossington Smith (1892-1984) - The Bridge In Curve (1930)
Australia $1 Stamp Issued 1996
National Gallery of Victoria Melbourne

Painting depicts the construction of Sydney Harbour Bridge during the Depression, as viewed from the Rocks, Sydney.  Cossington-Smith is one of Australia's greatest artists, who lived and worked in the north shore of Sydney during the great depression and wars of the early 20th Century.   This was also a time of great development in Sydney as the city grew and prospered.  

Her later work became characterised by broad brushstrokes and bright colours - her versatility meant that there were broad themes, including interiors, landscapes and depictions of everyday life in bustling Sydney.