Bamboo Shoots, by Heihachiro Fukuda

Bamboo Shoots (1947), by Heihachiro Fukuda (1892-1974)Stamp issued 16 August 1981, Japan
Yamatane Museum of Art in Nihonbashi, Tokyo

Fukuda was trained at the Kyoto City School of Arts and Crafts and he was a prolific Japanese artist of the early 20th century during the Taisho Era (1912-1926).  This work is from the middle stages of this long career  - many of his works reflected simple things in nature over his career.  The works were distinct as they managed to be abstract and realist at the same time.

Albert Gleizes - Ecuyere

Albert Gleizes (1881-1953) - Ecuyere (1923)

France Stamp Issued 1981

National Museum of Modern Art - Paris

This is an example of one work of cubism that was skillfully mastered by Gleizes.  Objects are broken up and reassembled to provide multiple viewpoints in an abstract form.  An ecuyere is a horseman or knight.

The artist was born and raised in Paris and he served in the French army intermittently up to the beginning of the first world war.   In 1915 he continued his artistic career by moving to New York City, where mush of his work now remains, after having being purchased as part of the Guggenheim Collection.   

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.

Paul-Emile Borduas - Untitled No. 6

Paul-Emile Borduas (1905-1960) - Untitled No. 6 

Canada 35c Stamp issued 1981

Museum of Contemporary Art - Montreal Canada

Borduas was the leader of the Automatiste group of artists in Montreal Canada that became prominent in the 1940s.  These artists supported the theory of surrealist automatism - this the the type of "automatic" drawing that is developed when you do not impose self-censorship during the drawing process.  Montreal was a conservative place at that time, and Borduas eventually moved to New York City and Paris in the 1950s before his untimely death in 1960 from a heart attack.

1998 Time Article on Borduas and the Automatists

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.

Frederick McCubbin - On the Wallaby Track

Frederick McCubbin (1855-1917) - On the Wallaby Track (1896)
Australia $2 Stamp Issued 1981
Held at the Art Gallery of NSW Sydney

Frederick McCubbin painted at a time when Australia was forming it's own identity in the lead up to Federation. He worked with other impressionist painters, including Tom Roberts on the outskirts of Melbourne, which is where he completed many landscape paintings. He captured the loneliness of the pioneering life in a series of paintings including Lost, On the Wallaby Track, Down on His Luck and The Pioneer. His paintings also captured the harsh Australian landscape in a romantic manner.

The painting was used as the basis for a 1980s TV ad for Kit Kat chocolates, in addition to being depicted in this stamp. 

Some of McCubbin's other works that have been depicted on stamps include Petit Dejeuner -1889

Charles Conder - A Holiday at Mentone

Charles Conder (1868-1909) - A Holiday at Mentone (1888)
Australia $5 stamp issued 1984
Art Gallery of South Australia

This high value $5 stamp was issued in 1984, shortly after this painting was purchased by the Art Gallery of South Australia in 1981. It depicts a romanticised Australian summer beach scene on the outskirts of Melbourne in the late 1800s, clearly demonstrating Australians’ love of the beach that has continued until today.

Born in England in 1868 before moving to Australia, Conder was only 20 years old then this painting was completed, having a close working relationship with Tom Roberts in Melbourne as part of the Heidelberg school of artists. He later went on to work in London and Paris before passing away at the young age of 41.  He now has a suburb in Canberra named after him.