SEPAC 2020 offered thematic and art collectors a chance to explore works found in various national collections. If you aren’t familiar with SEPAC, it stands for Small European Postal Administration Cooperation and formed by Åland Islands, Faroe Islands, Gibraltar, Greenland, Guernsey, Iceland, Isle of Man, Jersey, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco and Vatican City.
The competition began in 2007 and has covered:
- 2007 scenery I
- 2009 scenery II
- 2011 scenery III
- 2013 animals – winner Greenland
- 2014 flowers – winner Malta
- 2015 culture
- 2016 seasons – winner Guernsey
- 2017 local handcrafts – winner Isle of Man
- 2018 spectacular views – winner Monaco
- 2019 old residential houses
- 2020 art from national collections
- 2021 historical maps
- 2022 local drinks
I don’t have all the category winners listed, yet. The SEPAC website is erratic in updating and maintaining information, which means it takes a shameful amount of digging to find details. The 2020 theme was Art from National Collections. It gave each country the opportunity to search through their nationally held art collections and show off their best. Not all members participated and 2020 was the last year chance we had to enjoy any new issues from Iceland. What came out was a cross section of modern and traditional art. I haven’t found the winner of this competition, the SEPAC site is still advertising the 2019 competition voting. I’m sure it’s completed, but …. who knows.
Anyway, all the stamps entered into the SEPAC Most Beautiful Stamp competition are all lined up and ready for you to enjoy. Leave a comment below and let me know which one is your favourite.
Åland
1 stamp, sheet of 40, FDCs, cancel
4 colour offset
Sabina Tryptych
Artist: Henrik Nylund (1945–1982)
Born: Björsboda, Föglö, Åland Islands
Created: 1976
Original work: Acrylic on panels.
Acquired by Åland Art Museum
The stamp shows Nylund’s Sabina 1976 triptych. Originally created for Sabina’s Restaurant in Mariehamn. It is now on loan from the Åland Art Museum and on display in the Åland Department A triptych is usually painted on 3 panels that create a larger work.
Knowledge, experiences and new perspectives | Åland Museum
Search – Encyclopedia Finland (uppslagsverket.fi)
Release date: March 5, 2020
Faroe Islands
1 stamp, sheet of 20, 2 FDC, cancel, print
Maanens Duuer | Moon Pigeons
Artist: Díðrikur á Skarvanesi (1802-65)
Created: approx. 1840.
Original work: Gouache on paper, 38 x 24 cm.
Acquired:1954 by Listasavn Føroya (The National Gallery of the Faroe Islands)
Díðrikur was a farmhand in Sandoy, and at one point he served with a priest with a keen interest in nature. Here the gifted farmhand saw some of the bird guides of the time, with illustrations he translated into a decorative folk art style. Collection (art.fo)
He is credited as being the first known painter in the Faroe Islands. Moon Pigeons is only 1 of 5 of his paintings that have been preserved. The rest of his art is lost.
Release date: April 27, 2020
Gibraltar
Gibraltar didn’t issue a stamp.
Greenland
1 stamp, sheet of 10, booklet
Mother who is about to draw kamik of his daughter
Artist: Christine Elisabeth Lund Deichmann (1869-1945)
Born: Øverød, Denmark 1869
Lived in Greenland from 1901 to 1910
Original art: watercolour
The artwork, which is depicted in Greenland Sepac stamp 2020, has been selected in collaboration with Nunatta Katersugaasivia Allagaateqarfialu Greenland National Museum & Archives and Nuuk. The work, ‘Mother who is about to draw kamik of his daughter ’, is a watercolor painted in the beginning of the 20th century by Christine Elisabeth Lund Deichmann. Greenland Post
Nuuk Kunst Art Museum has an interesting perspective on women artists in pre-WW2 Greenland:
If we look back to prior to World War II, women seem virtually absent. That is, in name. While they are in fact, through their hands, woven into handicrafts, beadwork, and costumes, women’s names are nowhere on record nor do they follow their works – so that for the time being, history is oblivious of them. Up until World War II, painting and drawing are somewhat of a black hole when it comes to women: swallowed up and forgotten, as only male artists got to be around and rightfully establish themselves. Christine Deichmann (1869-1945) – Nuuk Kunstmuseum // Nuuk Art Museum
Deichmann focused on painting mothers and children, rather than landscape.
Nuuk Kunstmuseum // Nuuk Art Museum
Release date: May 18, 2020
Guernsey
6 stamps, souvenir sheets, FDCs, cancel, presentation pack
Wild Flowers in Pink Pot
Artist: Olympia McEwan
Born: Zambia
Created:
Original art: oil on canvas
Location: National Gallery acquired from Mrs & Mrs Wakefield
Olympia McEwan
This 2018 article has an interesting interview with McEwan Coffee Break Chat: Artist Olympia McEwan (findyello.com)
6 artists were featured in this set, with McEwan’s stamp the official SEPAC stamp
- Catskin – Frances Lemmon
- Dusk – Keith Langlois
- Cobo Gold – James Colmer
- Cobo Wild Flowers in Pink Pot – Olympia McEwan
- Fishing boat – Richard Le Goupillot
- Guernsey Grockles – Vazon Vera, Yasmin Mariess
Designer: Mark Totty
Release date: July 21, 2020
Iceland
1 stamp, sheets o 10, 2 FDCs, cancel
Skjaldbreiður
Artist: Jón Stefánsson
Born: Iceland 1881
Created: 1937
Original work: Oil painting
Location: Kunstwerk National Galerie of Iceland
Stefánsson is considered the first modern Icelandic landscape painter.
Skjaldbreiður is a lava shield that formed after a volcanic eruption 9,000 years ago.
This was the last SEPAC issue from Iceland
Release date: October 29, 2020
Isle of Man
No issue
Jersey
Claude Cahun, Artistic Photographer (1894-1954)
The 80p stamp was the official SEPAC entry. None of the other stamps carried the official SEPAC logo.
Self-portrait
Artist: Claude Cahun
Born: Nantes, France 1894
Created:1928
Original work: Photograph, Gelatin silver print
Cahun (Lucie Renee Mathilde Schwob) was a French surrealist photographer, writer and sculptor who moved, with her partner Marcel Moore, to Jersey in 1937 and remained there until her death in 1954. During the Nazi occupation, Cahun and Moore worked with the resistance. Part of their efforts was the creation of subversive, anti-Nazi works of art (photos, paintings and written words) and surreptitiously placing them into German soldier’s pockets. They were captured in 1944 and sentenced to death for their activities. Held in prison until liberated May 1945, Cahun and Moore were released only to find many of their works were deliberately destroyed by Nazis.
Claude Cahun’s photographic self-portraits present a dizzying kaleidoscopic mix of mystery, exuberance, and sobriety. Born in France, Cahun lived mostly on the island of Jersey with long-term love, Marcel Moore. Also known as Lucy Schwob and Suzanne Malherbe, they both adopted their preferred gender-neutral pseudonyms during early adulthood. Claude Cahun Photography, Bio, Ideas | TheArtStory
Jersey National Trust is the holder of the world’s largest collection of Cahun’s works. They have a substantial online display here Claude Cahun | Jersey Heritage
Release date: February 12, 2020
Liechtenstein
1 stamp, sheets of 9, FDC, cancel, maxicard
offset
Untitled (INDIAN BANNER: WORLD)
Artist: Matt Mullican
Born: Santa Monica, California 1951
Created: 1982
Original work: cotton banner
Location: Kunstmuseum, Liechtenstein
Release date: June 02, 2020
Luxembourg
1 stamp, FDC, cancel
offset
Many Spoken Words
Artist: Su-Mei Tse (L)
Born: Luxembourg
Created: 2009
Original work: fountain with black ink in place of water
Location: Collection Musée d’Art Moderne Grand-Duc Jean, Mudam Luxembourg
Acquired: 2009
Su-Mei Tse (b. 1973 Luxembourg) works in a wide range of media that includes photography, sculpture, video, and installation practice. One finds a deep appreciation for craft and gesture in her work. Tse grew up in a musical and culturally diverse family and is comfortable moving between different cultures, occasionally testing them against common clichés. Trained as a classical cellist, she creates work that often explores visual and auditory perception. Su-Mei Tse | Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum
Su-Mei was Artist-in-Residence at the Gardiner Museum, Toronto in 2008. They have a good page on her background and influences. Worth the read (see the link above).
Release date: September 15, 2020
Malta
2 stamps, 2 sheets of 10, FDC, cancel
offset
A Street Corner in Gozo & Procession passing St John’s Co-Cathedral
Artist: Edward Caruana Dingli
Born: 1876 Valletta, Malta
Created: unsure of date for 1st painting; 2nd painted 1927
Location: National Community Art Museum of Malta
Original work: The Times of Malta ran an interesting article about Dingli in 2014 Caruana Dingli paintings under the hammer (timesofmalta.com). It covers some of his life and topics of his paintings. It’s a quick read. This article offers a bit of perspective into his style Exhibition in May of Malta’s great C20th artist Edward Caruana Dingli (maltainsideout.com)
Release date: June 8, 2020
Monaco
1 stamp, sheet of 10, FDC, cancel
offset
L’Indolence
Artist: Eva Gonzalès (1849-1883)
Born: Paris, 1849
Created: 1871-1872
Original work: oil
Eva Gonzalès images, paintings | 67 artworks | ArtsViewer.com
Release date: June 25, 2020
Vatican City
No issue
You can see more SEPAC articles here THEMATICS, EUROPA & SEPAC stamps | Bitter Grounds Magazine
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