Hudson River School on Limited-Edition Forever Stamps

Dramatic landscapes from the 19th century Hudson River School art movement were recently celebrated on Forever Stamps. The images personify the natural beauty of New York state and the Grand Canyon. The Hudson River School Forever Stamps, available nationwide in booklets of 20, were dedicated at the American Philatelic Society Stamp Show.

"Poet John Keats could have been writing about the landscapes painted by these four men when he said, 'A thing of beauty is a joy forever,'" said U.S. Postal Service Vice President of Delivery and Post Office Operations Ed Phelan Jr. in dedicating the stamps. "These stamps are beautiful, and they are Forever Stamps. They will always be good to send a card or letter, no matter what the postage rate might be. They will last into the future, much like the paintings they honor."

Joining Phelan in the dedication were American Philatelic Society (APS) Board of Vice Presidents Chairman Alexander Haimann; APS Executive Director Ken Martin; APS President Stephen Reinhard; U.S. Postal Service Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee member Katherine Tobin; U.S. Postal Service Director of Stamp Services and Corporate Licensing Susan McGowan; Connecticut District Manager David Mastroianni; and Hartford Postmaster Leeann Theriault.

The stamps are 12th in the U.S. Postal Service's American Treasures series. They feature paintings of Distant View of Niagara Falls by Thomas Cole (1801-1848); Summer Afternoon by Asher B. Durand (1796-1886); Sunset by Frederic Edwin Church (1826-1900); and Grand Canyon by Thomas Moran (1837-1926). The designer and art director for these stamps was Derry Noyes of Washington, DC.

The Hudson River School Art Movement

During the 19th century, the artists of a young America searched for a new world view and found it in the very landscapes around them. Inspired by the stunning natural beauty of New York state and Arizona's Grand Canyon, the loose-knit Hudson River School of painters flourished from the mid-1830s to the mid-1870s and gave America its first major school of art.

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Submitted by Katonah, NY

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