Adriaen Brouwer - The Slaughter House

Adriaen Brouwer (1605-1638) - Slaughter House (c. 1630)
East Germany 25 DDR Stamp Issued 1982
Staatliches Museum Schwerin

Brouwer was a Dutch Flemish genre painter whose primary interest appeared to be the goings on in the everyday lives of peasants.  All his works are colourful and almost comical.  This is one of many stamps issued in 1982 in East Germany depicting art works from the 17th Century.

Vladimir Dimitrov - Majstora (Master)

Vladimir Dimitrov (1882-1960) - Majstora (Master) 
Bulgaria cm25 Stamp Issued 1982 
Vladimir Dimitrov Art Gallery Kjustendil

This is one of five stamps issued to commemorate the 100th anniversary of this artist's birth, as  he is considered to be one of the most accomplished Bulgarian artists of the 20th Century.  This work contains elements of socialist realism, that was popular through Eastern Europe at the time, and depicted on many Eastern European stamps in the 1960s to 1980s.

Giovanni Battista Tiepolo - Madonna and the Goldfinch

Giovanni Tiepolo - Madonna and the Goldfinch (1760)
USA 20c Stamp issued 1982
Held at the National Gallery of Art Washington

Tiepolo is a highly regarded 18th century artist who is primarily known for his huge fresco works that were epic and grand - these were completed in the 1750s and are located through many churches and estates in Venice and surrounding regions.  He also worked as far afield as Madrid.


This painting depicts a very pale Madonna and child with fat rosy cheeks.  The goldfinch is meant to symbolise the eventual violent death of the child many years later - interestingly, another painting was completed by Raphael in the early 1500s with the same name and subject, so Tiepolo was covering familiar religious themes with this work.

Willem Claesz Heda - Breakfast Table with a Ham

Willem Claesz. Heda (1594-1680): Breakfast table with a ham, 1648.
East Germany 35DDR Stamp issued 1982
Staatliches Museum

Heda produced a large number of still life paintings during his long career as a painter from the Haarlem school of Dutch painters.  Opulent foods were depicted in these paintings, along with expensive silverware, wine glasses and time pieces, which were symbols of the briefness of life for individuals.  

Alex Colville - Family and Rainstorm

Alex Colville (1925-    ) - Family and Rainstorm (Nova Scotia) (1955)

Canada 30c Stamp issued 1982

National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa

Colvillewas a Canadian painter who emerged after WWII from the East Canadian provinces, depicting the naturalism and everyday life of post WWII democracy.  In this painting, the individuals are starkly depicted with clean lines in a pleasant environment.  However, I see some sense of foreboding or gloom - the clouds are dark on the horizon and the metallic industrial frame of the car door are centrally placed in this painting.  The people do not communicate with the audience.


This was one of 12 paintings that were depicted on 1982 Canada Day stamps - all ten provinces and 2 territories of Canada were represented - this painting is from Nova Scotia

Molly Joan Lamb Bobak - Tea Hill

Molly Joan Lamb Bobak (1922-    ) - Tea Hill 

Canada 30c Stamp issued 1982

Holland College School of Visual Arts

Molly Joan Bobak was appointed as a war artist in 1945, being the only woman to do so.  Her father was one of the Group of Seven Canadian artists.  


This is one of twelve Canada Day stamps from 1982 that depicted artworks from each of Canada's provinces and territories.  This paint depicts a warm summer's afternoon on Prince Edward Island.  The artist was known for painting ordinary events, particularly scenes of peaceful social interaction in the landscape. 

Adrian Hebert - Street Scene, Quebec

Adrien Hébert (1890-1967), "Scène de rue, Montréal" (1933) 

Canada Stamp issued 1982 for Canada Day

Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec, Québec, Quebec

Hebert portrayed urban life in the Montreal area over the 1930s and 1940s.  Many of his paintings depicted the Port Of Montreal, but when access was restricted in the second world war, he went to other urban locations, including locomotive workshops and railway stations.  

This painting has an interesting perspective - the street is very busy, but somewhat gloomy in the midst of the Canadian winter.  We are drawn into a small piece of a much larger city that sits outside the frame of the painting.

Christpoher Pratt - Breakwater

Christpoher Pratt (1935-    ) - Breakwater (1976) 

Canada 30c Stamp issued 1982 

National Gallery of Canada

This modern work was depicted on a Canadian stamp only 6 years after the painting was completed.  The artist is known for depictions of the Newfoundland landscape where he lives. Maritime, architecture and roadside scenes are common in his works.


This painting has a very timeless quality to it - the scene could well be imaginary.  Although the colours of the landscape are appealing, the modern style buildings are drab, with very few redeeming features, despite the light clean lines on the horizon.

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.)

Carel Fabritius - The Sentry

Carel Fabritius (1622-1654) - The Sentry

East Germany DDR Stamp Issued 1982

Painting completed in 1654

Staatliche Museum Schwerin Germany

Fabritius was one of Rembramdt's most gifted pupils, but his life was cut short in a gunpowder explosion in Delft Holland in 1654.  It is thought that only a dozen of his paintings survive.  

This excellently designed stamp depicts a painting that shows his ability to capture life-like light and shadows in everyday situations.  The colours and mood are also similar to his most famous work is "The Goldfinch".

Frans van Mieris - Duet

Frans Van Mieris (1635-1681) - Duet

Stamp issued East Germany DDR 1982

Painting completed 1658, held at Slaatliches Museum Schwerin

Van Mieris painted in the "Leiden Fijnschilders" (fine painting) style where small paintings were composed and meticulously executed in a manner aimed at reproducing reality.  He was a master of the Dutch Golden Age.

This painting was completed at a time when he was specialising in depicting the lives of the upper classes in Holland.  Clothing fabrics are richly ornate and the house is expensively furnished. 

The National Gallery of Art in Washington DC held an exhibition on the works by Frans van Mieris in 2006.