1997 Cartoonists

New Zealand Post commissioned some of this country's best-known cartoonists to each a design a stamp based around the theme of 'Kiwis taking on the world". The theme was deliberately broad, designed to give each cartoonist maximum reign. It could be a tribute to the Kiwi psyche, Kiwiana, the pastimes New Zealanders enjoy, the famous Kiwi ingenuity or simply a celebration of ways in which New Zealanders have made their mark on the world, how each cartoonist interpreted the statement was up to them.

The works that followed were predictably unpredictable, as individual and diverse in their interpretation of the theme as the people themselves. After much deliberation, four cartoons were finally chosen for the set of stamps. The result was a stamp issue in which every person in New Zealand can see a little of themselves and their fellow Kiwis.

1999 New Zealand Art - Doris Lusk

Doris Lusk is one of a small group of important New Zealand painters who emerged during the 1930’s, 40’s and 50’s. Throughout a highly productive painting career that spanned five decades, Lusk explored both landscape painting and portraiture.

The four stamps covering 1948 - 1982.

1998 New Zealand Art - Peter McIntyre

        

        This tribute was the second in the New Zealand Art series and followed on from the inaugural issue in 1997 that paid tribute to the genius and striking originality of Colin McCahon.

        This issue featured four works from throughout Peter McIntyre’s long and illustrious career. Peter McIntyre (1910-1995) was the best known New Zealand artist through the middle decades of the 20th century. 

1997 New Zealand Art - Colin McCahon

       McCahon was born in Timaru but spent most of his life in Auckland, where he worked at the Auckland Art Gallery and taught at the Elam School of Art. He began as a landscape painter, and from this, a visionary style evolved featuring the placement of religious images and words against New Zealand landscape backdrops. His painting career spanned five decades.
       Few other 20th century New Zealand painters have received the international respect and admiration that has been accorded to Colin McCahon (1919-1987). The distinctive power and originality of his images have made him a giant of New Zealand painting.

The four stamps of this issue cover the different periods of his painting career as his style and emphasis changed over time.

1986 United Nations International Year Of Peace

        Costa Rica is a small country, bordered by Nicaragua and Panama, and on either side by the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean. Small it may be, but it was Costa Rica's initiative that saw the International Year of Peace first proposed in the United Nations General Assembly in 1981. The following year, a proposal to observe the calendar year of 1986 as the official United Nations International Year of Peace was adopted by consensus.

        During 1985 a nationwide design competition was held to obtain designs for the stamp issue.  The winning designs were seen as strongly promoted the message of peace.  They incorporated a diverse group of peace symbols that would be recognised by the widest possible spectrum of the community:  the dove; the 'tree of life', the United Nations Year of Peace logo; and the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament symbol.

Two se tenant stamps depicting the dove; the 'tree of life'. The United Nations Year of Peace logo and the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament symbol can be seen on each stamp too. 

1986 Music

       This is a small issue celebrating traditional forms of music popular in New Zealand. I'm not sure just how popular these stamps were. Certainly, I overlooked them until we discovered them recently. Anyway, they are real stamps so we need to include them in this blog. I think the stories that were added by NZ Post makes the issue more interesting. I know I learnt a few new things which is partly what this blog is all about.

30c - Classical Music.

1983 Rita Angus Paintings

This issue of stamps featured the works of Rita Angus whose meticulous compositions in oil and water-colours earned her the reputation as a leader of the modern school of New Zealand painting.

1973 Frances Hodgkins Paintings

           Frances Mary Hodgkins (28 April 1869 – 13 May 1947) was a painter chiefly of landscape and still life, and for a short period was a designer of textiles. She was born in New Zealand, but spent most of her working life in Britain. She is considered one of New Zealand's most prestigious and influential painters, although it is the work from her life in Europe, rather than her home country, on which her reputation rests.

           Born in Dunedin in 1869 Frances was encouraged to paint by her father.  She exhibited for the first time in Dunedin and Christchurch in 1890.  That same year she was elected a working member of the Otago Art Society.  Frances attended the Dunedin School of Art, subsequently gaining first class passes. During the period 1890 - 1900 she devoted most of her time to painting, exhibiting regularly. 

          In 1901 Frances left New Zealand to study and work in England and Europe although she returned home on several occasions to exhibit and to visit family.  She eventually settled permanently in England.  Frances Hodgkins died at Herrison House, Dorcester in 1947.  She was essentially an artist in the European tradition, and it is on her later work done in Europe that she is known for.

2015 Matariki - Kowhaiwhai

         Typically featured in the whare whakairo (decorated meeting house) on the heke (rafters), kōwhaiwhai is an art form that is distinctively Māori, and unique to Aotearoa New Zealand. Issued to coincide with the dawn of Māori New Year, the Matariki 2015 stamp issue celebrates this ancient art form in a more contemporary setting.
        In this post I have shown the full set below so you an get an over-view of the designs. Further down we will feature each of the six stamps with more detailed notes on each artist. (Current images will be replaced when better ones become available.) Next there is an area of other items of interest, including the usual Miniature Sheet and First Day Covers. At the bottom just above the Technical Information is a 1988 issue that also featured Kowhaiwhai. 

See our Matariki Collection.                       See our Index - New Zealand Maori.

Christmas Stamps 2006 - 2009

Children's Design a Stamp Competitions.

While I was working on Allan's Christmas Stamp Collection I came upon a series of stamps designed by young children. I couldn't do much more than just give the child's name and the title of his/her painting because the large collection pages can't hold much detail about each stamp.

Since I liked these designs so much, I decided to ask Allan about doing a page to include all of them on one page. My plan was to include what other details can be found about each design.

Allan agreed so here it is all 25 stamps, enlarged with more detailed captions. So now you can enjoy the great designs and colours. Also read the italic text, where each child explains the theme behind his/her design. You will see the thought and wisdom that has gone into many of these stamps.

1988 Heritage Set 1 - The Land.

Heritage Series Overview.                   Forward to Set 2 - The People.

           This issue titled 'The Land' was the first of a 'Heritage ' series of six stamp issues leading up to the 1990, 150th anniversary celebrations in New Zealand. Over the next few months I will be publishing posts on the other five issues as well as a summery page showing all six issues together.

           This issue 'The Land' - consisted of a set of six stamps featuring reproductions of early New Zealand paintings completed by some of the country's most famous 19th century artists. These artists interpreted the crystal clear light and rugged scenery in a romanticised European fashion.  Their paintings were often sent to England as the first record of the new found frontier - persuading many settlers to emigrate.     

2014 Matariki - Papatūānuku and Ranginui.



The Rising of Matariki.        

        For the Māori people, the night skies in June traditionally has huge significance as the dawn of a new Māori year. The annual appearance of the seven stars of ‘Matariki’, also known as the star cluster 'The Pleiades' in the constellation Tauris, or by its common name 'the seven sisters', signals a time for renewal, reflection and celebration! This celebration is something unique to New Zealand.

        Each year New Zealand Post  issues a set of postage stamps to mark this event. These stamps always feature some aspect of Maori culture. The 2014 Matariki issue was about the well known story of Papatūānuku and Ranginui. The set of six stamps show how six famous artists used this story to inspire their art.

See our Matariki Collection.                      See our Index - New Zealand Maori.

2013 Margaret Mahy

          I must admit, not being a great reader of children's books, I did not know much about Margaret Mahy. As I was not particularly attracted to the stamps either so I decided to leave this issue out of this blog until recently as I started working on the ANZAC issue then I had a closer look at this one too. I saw the awards Margaret Mahy had received and I realised that she was an important author in her field. I have therefore decided to include this issue in my blog.

          Margaret Mahy (1936 – 2012) is the only author ever to have been appointed an Ordinary Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit (1993), and she won many of the world’s major prizes for children’s writers. In 2006 she won the highest international award for children’s literature – the prestigious Hans Christian Andersen Award, and is the only New Zealander to have done so. In New Zealand she was awarded the Esther Glen Medal and the New Zealand Post Book of the Year Award multiple times.
                                                                    (New Zealand Post.)

         Each stamp represents one of the five more popular of her books.

70c - A Lion in the Meadow.

2000 / 2012 The Year of the Dragon.

See my complete collection of Chinese New Year Issues.

Dragon from the Chinese New Year Lantern Festival, Auckland 2016.

2012 The Year of the Dragon.

        In 2012 New Zealand again celebrated Chinese New Year with a set of four stamps. These same stamps also appeared on the miniature sheet issued at the same time. The stamps followed the recent trend of having the Chinese symbol on the lowest value, then two values depicting an associated with the Lunar Year, in this case a dragon and the highest value a New Zealand Icon.

        The dragon is an important ancient symbol for the Chinese people, and it is believed to ward off evil spirits. Everything connected with the dragon is thought to be blessed, which makes this lunar stamp issue particularly special.