2018-05-26 Sat

The Royal Mail will release a set of six new stamps to celebrate the 250th Anniversary of London’s Royal Academy of Arts on 5th June. The three vertical se-tenant pairs contain two designs each created by well-known artists.

Architect Sir William Chambers visited King George III in 1768 with a petition signed by 36 artists and architects including himself to establish a society for promoting the Arts of Design. The king finally approved the idea and the independent organisation has become one of the leading artist and architect-led institutions. It was not funded by the Government and was dependent on donations made by visitors, sponsors and the Friends of the Royal Academy group.

One of the stamp-design is created by the contemporary artist, Grayson Perry, who is coordinating the academy’s 250th summer exhibition. All the artists who designed the stamps have a royal academician title and are elected by their peers. The stamps depict the artist’s personal representation of the summer exhibition.

An artwork called Summer Exhibition by Perry and Queen of the Sky by painter Fiona Rae is featured on the first pair of non-denominated first-class stamps. He also received the Turner Prize in 2003. The annual award is presented to a British visual artist since 1984. Designs by Norman Ackroyd and Barbara Rae are featured on the pair of £1.25 stamps.

An artwork titled St Kilda: The Great Sea Stacs by Ackroyd features a scenery from the World Heritage site located in Scotland’s Outer Hebrides. Barbara Rae’s artwork is called Inverleith Allotments and Edinburgh Castle.

An interesting design called Queuing at the RA by Yinka Shonibare is featured on one of the £1.55 stamps. A sketch of two faces called Saying Goodbye by Tracey Emin is depicted on the other stamp in this pair.

Royal Mail Group Ltd. designed the stamps. First-day covers, six postcards featuring the designs, a pack of mint examples and a text by art critic and senior lecturer Gilda Williams, about the academy are also being offered.

Image Courtesy: The Royal Mail