2019 First-Class Forever Stamp,Ellsworth Kelly: "Red Blue"

US #5390
2019 Red Blue – Ellsworth Kelly

• Part of the 10-stamp set commemorating abstract artist Ellsworth Kelly

Stamp Category:  Commemorative
Set:  Ellsworth Kelly
Value:  55¢ First Class Mail Rate (Forever)
First Day of Issue:  May 31, 2019
First Day City:  Spencertown, New York
Quantity Issued:  20,000,000
Printed by:  Banknote Corporation of America
Printing Method:  Offset
Format:  Panes of 20
Tagging:  Phosphor, block tag

Why the stamp was issued:  To honor Ellsworth Kelly, an abstract artist known for his paintings, sculpture, and works on paper.

About the stamp design:  Picture’s Kelly’s piece Red Blue (1964).

First Day City:  The First Day of Issue Ceremony was held at Ellsworth Kelly Studio in Spencertown, New York.

About the Ellsworth Kelly set:  Includes 10 different stamp designs, each picturing a piece of art created by Ellsworth Kelly (1923-2015).  The pieces shown are:  Yellow White (1961), Colors for a Large Wall (1951), Blue Red Rocker (1963), Spectrum I (1953), South Ferry (1956), Blue Green (1962), Orange Red Relief (for Delphine Seyrig) (1990), Meschers (1951), Red Blue (1964), and Gaza (1956).  The selvage of the complete pane of 20 includes a segment of Blue Yellow Red III (1971).

History the stamp represents:  Over the course of Ellsworth Kelly’s six-decade career, his work was featured in museums around the world.  He also received some of the highest honors the art world bestows.

Kelly had his first solo exhibition at the age of 28 in 1951, while he was painting in Paris.  He then made his American debut with his first US solo show in 1956.  And three years later, he was included in the Museum of Modern Art’s Sixteen Americans show, which was a groundbreaking exhibition of modern art.  Kelly would go on to become a staple in the art world, with new exhibitions every few years.  His work was also added to the collections of museums in the US, Paris, Madrid, and London.

For his role as an art pioneer, Kelly received numerous honorary degrees as well as national and international awards.  These include the Brandeis Creative Arts Award, France’s Order of Arts and Letters, Japan’s Praemium Imperiale, and the US National Medal of Arts, presented by the president.

A year after Kelly’s death in 2015, his foundation established an award in his name.  The award grants $40,000 to an under-recognized artist to stage their own exhibition.  Kelly believed exhibitions were crucial to an artist’s success and the award keeps his memory alive by helping the careers of young artists.