The humble US postage stamp.
It’s small and it’s inexpensive, but it has great power to send your letters and packages on cross-country journeys and have them magically* appear exactly where you want them to go. For more than a century, having something or someone featured on a US Postage Stamp has been a marker of cultural or historical importance, a symbol of notoriety for everyone from the likes of Romare Bearden to Marilyn Monroe; and, as it turns out, several works in the UMMA collection.
So, read on for a sampling of art in UMMA’s collection that has been featured on USPS stamps, and the next time you write your friend(s) a letter, spend some time considering the stamp.
Ansel Adams, legendary Californian landscape photographer, has about three dozen photographs in UMMA’s collection. One of these, Sand Dunes, Sunrise, Death Valley National Monument, California, was released as a 37-cent stamp in 2002, in a commemorative issue called Masters of American Photography. The image depicts a rolling expanse of sand dunes in the dawn light, and is, like most of his work, in black and white. According to the Ansel Adams Trust, this image “reveals the sharpness of detail and rich tonal range from the deepest black to the purest white that are hallmarks of his [Adams’s] work.”
US Postage Stamp, issued 2002-06-13, 37 cent postage value
Featured artwork:
Sand Dunes, Sunrise, Death Valley National Monument, California
Ansel Adams
1948; printed 1980. Gelatin silver print on paper
Gift of Harry H. Lunn, Jr.
Ellsworth Kelly is known for his work in Color Field painting, closely associated with hard-edge painting--a style in which large, flat swaths of bright colors are painted across a canvas, often in simple geometric shapes. His piece Untitled, from "Ten Works + Ten Painters", a stark red elliptical shape on a royal blue background, was released as a stamp in 2019, as a commemorative sheet with nine other Kelly pieces. These are Forever stamps (meaning that despite future price changes, they will always be equal in value to the current First-Class Mail 1-ounce price) and are still for sale via the official USPS shop.
US Postage Stamp, issued 2019-05-31, forever stamp value
Featured art work:
Untitled, from "Ten Works + Ten Painters"
Ellsworth Kelly
1964, screenprint on paper
Gift of Graham and Marianne Smith
“I am a father to a bad child,” pop artist Robert Indiana told the New York Times in 2013, about his iconic LOVE design. “It bit me.” Originally designed as a Christmas card for MoMA in the 1960s, Indiana bemoaned the fact that his design found its way onto a variety of mass-produced posters, cheap jewelry, and the like. You’ve seen it before, likely in both print and sculpture form--the red L and tilted O stacked on top of a V and E. UMMA has a 1967 lithograph of the work, which was issued as an 8-cent stamp in 1973. This image was the very first in the USPS’s series of Love stamps, which is updated every year and a popular purchase for people sending out wedding invitations and Valentine's Day cards.
US Postage Stamp, issued 1973-01-26, 8 cent postage value
Featured artwork
Love
Robert Indiana
1967, color lithograph on paper
Gift of David L. Chambers and John G. Crane
Ansel Adams: The legendary Californian landscape photographer Ansel Adams has about three dozen photographs in UMMA’s collection. One of these, Sand Dunes, Sunrise, Death Valley National Monument, California, was released as a 37-cent stamp in 2002, in a commemorative issue called Masters of American Photography. The image depicts a rolling expanse of sand dunes in the dawn light, and is, like most of his work, in black and white. According to the Ansel Adams Trust, this image “reveals the sharpness of detail and rich tonal range from the deepest black to the purest white that are hallmarks of his [Adams’s] work.”
Ellsworth Kelly: Kelly is known for his work in Color Field painting, closely associated with hard-edge painting--a style in which large, flat swaths of bright colors are painted across a canvas, often in simple geometric shapes. His piece Untitled, from "Ten Works + Ten Painters", a stark red elliptical shape on a royal blue background, was released as a stamp in 2019, as a commemorative sheet with nine other Kelly pieces. These are Forever stamps (meaning that despite future price changes, they will always be equal in value to the current First-Class Mail 1-ounce price) and are still for sale via the official USPS shop.
Robert Indiana: “I am a father to a bad child,” pop artist Robert Indiana told the New York Times in 2013, about his iconic LOVE design. “It bit me.” Originally designed as a Christmas card for MoMA in the 1960s, Indiana bemoaned the fact that his design found its way onto a variety of mass-produced posters, cheap jewelry, and the like. You’ve seen it before, likely in both print and sculpture form--the red L and tilted O stacked on top of a V and E. UMMA has a 1967 lithograph of the work, which was issued as an 8-cent stamp in 1973. This image was the very first in the USPS’s series of Love stamps, which is updated every year and a popular purchase for people sending out wedding invitations and Valentine's Day cards.
*magically = through the labor of the individuals who make up the workforce of the US Postal Service