Kaburagi Kiyokata - Leaf

Kaburagi Kiyokata 鏑木清方  (1873-1972) - "Leaf" 

Japanese Stamp Issued 1980

Modern Art Series

Kaburagi lived a colourful and long life during a period of huge social and political change in Japan.  This painting was commissioned in 1940 at the height of his artistic career, as was a member of the Art Committee for the Imperial Household in Tokyo.  

He is credited with being part of the revival of the 'bijinga' style of painting and printing in Japan during the 20th Century.   This genre calls for the classic depiction of Japanese women in classical style, often wearing a kimono.

His former house has been converted into a really quaint little museum in true Japanese style.

Rita Angus - Boats

Rita Angus - Boats, Island Bay (1963)

New Zealand 24c Stamp issued 1983

Private Collection

This is the final of four stamps that were issued in 1983 by New Zealand Post to commemorate the work of Rita Angus.  

From the Te Papa Gallery Website: 

One of Rita Angus’s best-loved paintings, Boats, Island Bay, celebrates the landscape and community of Wellington’s south coast. Fishing boats twist and bob on the tide, with the island of Tapu te Ranga on the horizon.

Angus’s friend Betty Curnow recalled visiting Island Bay with her:

‘Our days at Island Bay were enjoyable, with lots of things to laugh about. Rita watched absorbed, and remembered so much that was happening about her … All of her paintings were planned and worked out from absorbed and remembered things as well as from sketches – all with reason and purpose.’

Robert Harris - A Meeting of the School Trustees

Robert Harris - A Meeting of the School Trustees (1885)

Canadian 17c Stamp Issued 1980 Canada

This painting depicts some of the difficulties of life experienced by people in isolated areas of Canada in the late 19th Century.  School teacher Kate Henderson is having a confrontation with the local school trustee board in a local school on Prince Edward Island in Canada.  

Robert Harris, a Canadian artist immortalised this event which has come to represent part of Canadian folklore - it shows some of the difficulties encountered when trying to live in isolated communities.  This artist also painted "The Fathers of Confederation", the original painting that depicted the conference that settled the basics of a union of the British North American Provinces (i.e. Canada). 

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 - 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)

Lucius O'Brien - Sunrise on the Saguenay, Cape Trinity

Sunrise on the Saguenay, Cape Trinity   1880 - Lucuis O'Brien (1832-1899)

Canadian Stamp issued 1980

From the National Gallery of Canada

This painting depicts a scene where nature is huge in comparison to people in the landscape.  O'Brien painted many scenes of Canada in the 19th Century, mainly in the provinces of Ontario and Quebec.  His skillfully manipulates light in many of his works- the landscapes often have a hint of the surreal.

The stamp is one of three that were issued to commemorate the centenary of the Royal Academy of Arts in Canada.

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.