Georgia O'Keefe's "Red Poppy" adorns stamp (original) (raw)

The legacy of Georgia O'Keeffe's prolific work as one of this country's most important modern artists will be recognized by the U.S. Postal Service on Thursday.

In special ceremonies in Santa Fe, N.M., sheets of 15 32-cent stamps with decorative border will be issued. Each stamp will reproduce her 1927 painting "Red Poppy."

Several prominent Santa Fe art institutions have become involved in the activities surrounding the stamp's issuance. They include the Museum of Fine Arts of the Museum of New Mexico, the Georgia O'Keeffe Foundation and the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum, which is scheduled to open next spring.

For the first time, the "Red Poppy" painting, on loan from a private collector, will be exhibited in Santa Fe at the Museum of Fine Arts.

By the end of her life, Georgia O'Keeffe had completed more than 200 flower paintings, most of them created between 1918 and 1932. Her work had attracted national attention since her first solo exhibition in 1917, but the flower paintings were the most popular.

The spectacular size of many of the flower paintings, along with their bold colors and sensual shapes, made them subject to widely varying, sometimes controversial interpretations.

The artist's attachment to the Southwest developed when she taught art in the small town of Canyon, near Amarillo, from 1914-1916. Her love of the region grew stronger over decades of summer visits. That eventually led her to the small village of Abiquiu, 50 miles from Santa Fe, where she lived full time until 1984. She died in Santa Fe two years later at the age of 98.

The marginal printing in the sheet of stamps includes a photo of the artist taken by Tony Vaccaro in 1960. It also contains the following quotation from her "Nobody sees a flower, really -- it is so small -- we haven't time, and to see takes time, like to have a friend takes time."

Margaret Bauer, a Washington, D.C., graphic artist for the National Gallery of Art, designed the stamp.

"After careful deliberation, it was determined that "Red Poppy" would translate best as a postage stamp," Ms. Bauer said. "As tiny as the flower appears on the stamp, the image is still very striking."

The stamps are being printed in yellow, cyan, magenta and black by Stamp Ventures, Fredericsburg, Va.

The Postal Service said the stamps should be available to consumers in most area post offices on Friday.

The Cape Cod Stamp Club has planned another of its regular philatelic auctions for Saturday at the West Barnstable Community Center Building, Route 149, north of Route 6 (take Exit 5 off the Mid-Cape Highway).

Viewing will get underway at noon, with the auction scheduled to be called at — p.m. For more information, call (508) 771-1753 or (508) 775-2993.

A No. 10 size commemorative envelope was issued May 9 in Atlanta, Ga., in honor of the Paralympic Games. "Starfire," the games' logo, appears in the upper right of the 32-cent envelope.

The 1996 Atlanta Paralympic Games, hosting more than 3,500 athletes, will consist of 10 days of competition (Aug. 15-25). Athletes from more than 100 nations will participate in 17 sporting events.

Competitors in the Paralympic Games are elite athletes with physical, visual or mental impairments. Four international federations are represented Cerebral Palsy International Sports and Recreation Association; International Blind Sports Association; International Sports Organization for the Disabled.

The guiding principle behind the Paralympic Games is that these world-class athletes should have opportunities and experiences equivalent to those afforded non-disabled athletes.

In order to compete in the Paralympics, each athlete must meet strict qualifying standards and be selected to his or her national team.

The sheet of O'Keeffe stamps includes this quote from her "Nobody sees a flower, really... to see takes time, like to have a friend takes time."