Four of Taiwan's contemporary art paintings have now been immortalized as special edition stamps, thanks to the joint efforts of the National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts and Chunghwa Post.
Chen Chi-ming (陳濟民), secretary-general at the Ministry of Culture, said that a stamp is akin to a miniaturized encyclopedia, as it encapsulates classical aesthetics and timeless knowledge. He also praised Chunghwa Post for refining and innovating its postal designs in recent years.
Although Chunghwa Post has released several art-focused stamp collections before, "Modern Taiwanese Paintings Postage Stamps (Issue of 2018)" marks the first collaboration between Taiwan’s national postal service and the Taichung-based NTMOFA, which has over 15,000 items in its 30-year collection.
Innovative applications of Taiwan's art heritage is a key portion of the Ministry of Culture's efforts to reconstruct the nation's art history, and postage stamps will help bring art into the daily lives of the Taiwanese public, added Chen Chao-jung (國美館), acting director of NTMOFA.
The four chosen paintings are:
"Red Dusk" by Lin Chih-chu (1917-2008, 林之助), pioneer of Taiwan’s eastern gouache art;
"Window Side" by Liao Te-cheng (1920-2015, 廖德政), co-founder of Era Art Association;
"Day and Night #10”" by Chen Ting-shih (1913-2002, 陳庭詩), co-founder of the Modern Graphic Association;
"Work No. 057" by Lee Chun-shan (1912-1984, 李仲生), an abstract painter and art theorist.
"Modern Taiwanese Paintings Postage Stamps (Issue of 2018)" at NT$36 a set will be available for purchase from postal offices across Taiwan and Chunghwa Post's website.
The face value of each stamp is NT$8 for Lin's "Red Dusk," NT$8 for Liao's "Window Side," NT$10 for Chen's "Day and Night #10," and NT$10 for Lee's "Work No. 057."