Few works of art enjoy as vast an audience as American stamps. At their most basic, stamps are simple proofs of postage, but with the addition of graphic designs that honor national heroes and commemorate historical events, they become something much greater: compelling works of art that serve, in the words of W.B. Yeats, as “the silent ambassadors on national taste.”

Recently on view at the Smithsonian’s National Postal Museum, The Art of the Stamp comprises 100 small works of original art created by 52 top professional illustrators and designers working in the United States. These miniature masterpieces, whose design spans the 1960s to the present, reflect the evolutionary process of American stamps as new subjects and designs are explored.

The subject matter depicted in The Art of the Stamp runs the gamut of American history and culture, arts and entertainment, and science and nature—from birds to Broadway musicals, movie stars to the military, flowers to transportation. The exhibition also affords a rare opportunity to get a glimpse of how stamp designs are developed, from pencil sketches to final artwork. Preliminary sketches and behind-the-scenes material for other stamps show the complexity of the process.

One of the most famous stamps in recent memory is the “Elvis Presley,” the most popular stamp of all time with record sales of 500 million. The Art of the Stamp features the original art for this now-iconic stamp along with four preliminary concept portraits. Also presented are two original Norman Rockwell pieces commissioned by the United States Postal Service (USPS), one of the few times these two works have been publicly displayed.

This collection from the USPS achieves what President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who helped design several stamps, saw as the chief aim of stamp art: It “dispels boredom, enlarges our vision, broadens our knowledge, makes us better citizens, and in innumerable ways enriches our lives.”

Contents	100 works on paper, wall cases, text panels, labels.
Supplemental	Educational resources, PR materials, bibliography, contact list
Participation Fee	$8,000 for a 12-week booking period, plus prorated shipping
Size	490 running feet (150 running meters)
Crates	6
Weight	495 kg (1,090 lb.), est.
Category	Art
Security	Moderate, with light restrictions
Shipping	Prorated, SITES-designated carrier
SITES Contacts	Minnie Micu, 202.633.3160 (Scheduling) Deborah Macanic, 202.633.3101 (Content)
Tour Ends	March 2008

None listed at this time. Please check back later.

None listed at this time. Please check back later.