
John Foster|Accidental Mysteries
December 31, 2009
A Philatelist’s Dream
I would think that any designer or illustrator would consider the opportunity to design a postage stamp as a highlight of their career. Stamps are seen by entire populations, coveted by collectors, and have many years of longevity, as far as ephemera goes.
This week, I take you to a wonderful online museum called Memory of the Netherlands, where I discovered a collection called “150 Years of Design for the Dutch Postal Service.” Thinking I would find an archive only of printed stamps, I discovered something far more interesting — the preliminary sketches, production notes and overlays that tell a far different story. For me, some of these examples slip away from their hard realities and take on the momentary context of fine art collage and drawing.
The Memory of the Netherlands is an image library making available the online collections of museums, archives and libraries. The library provides access to images from the collections of more than one hundred institutions and includes photographs, sculptures, paintings, bronzes, pottery, modern art, drawings, stamps, posters and newspaper clippings. In addition there are also video and sound recordings to see and listen to. The Memory of the Netherlands offers an historic overview of images from exceptional collections, organized by subject to provide easy access.
Designer: Dirk van Gelder, 1951
Designer: Gerrit Noordzij, 1974
Designer: Walter Nikkels, 1977
Designer: Kees Nieuwenhuijzen, 1986
Designer: Paul Roelof Citroen, 1949
Designer: Paul Roelof Citroen, 1949
Designer: Cobbenhagen en Hendriksen, 2007
Designer: Experimental Jetset, 2000
Designer: Tessa van der Waals, 1988
Designer: Willem van Zoetendaal, 1992
Designer: Catherine van der Eerden, 1998
Designer: Rineke Dijkstra, 1996
Designer: Gielijn Escher, 1996
Designer: Montse Hernandez Sala, 1993
Designer: Harry Nico Sierman, 1995
Designer: Tessa van der Waals, 1993
Designer: Gerrit Noordzji, 1964; Illustrator: Mien van den Beucken
Observed
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Observed
By John Foster
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