About This Stamp
During the 19th century, the artists of a young America searched for a new way of viewing the world and found it in the very landscapes around them. Inspired by the stunning natural beauty of New York state, the loose-knit Hudson River School of painters flourished from the mid-1830s to the mid-1870s and gave America its first major school of art.
This 12th issuance in the American Treasures series features details of paintings by four renowned Hudson River School artists. The paintings on these stamps are: Distant View of Niagara Falls (1830) by Thomas Cole, from the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago; Summer Afternoon (1865) by Asher B. Durand, from the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art; Sunset (1856) by Frederic Edwin Church, from the collection of the Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute; and Grand Canyon (1912) by Thomas Moran, from the collection of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art.
Derry Noyes was the art director and designer for the Hudson River School stamps, which are being issued as Forever® stamps. These Forever® stamps will always be equal in value to the current First-Class Mail® one-ounce price.
Church, Frederic Edwin (1826-1900). Sunset. 1856. Oil on canvas. Original 1870s-style frame. 37 3/4 x 49 3/4 in. (framed). Proctor Collection, PC.21. Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute, Utica, NY, U.S.A. Photo Credit: Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute / Art Resource, NY
Durand, Asher Brown (1796-1886). Summer Afternoon. 1865. Oil on canvas, 22 1/2 x 35 in. (57.2 x 88.9 cm). Bequest of Maria DeWitt Jesup, from the collection of her husband, Morris K. Jesup, 1914 (15.30.60). The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY, U.S.A. Image copyright © The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Image source: Art Resource, NY
Cole, Thomas, Distant View of Niagara Falls, 1830, Oil on panel, 47.9 x 60.6 cm (18 7/8 x 23 7/8 in.), Friends of American Art Collection, 1946.396, The Art Institute of Chicago. Photography © The Art Institute of Chicago. For Internet use, the photo credit and caption must be given and may appear in the proximity of the image or in a separate “Sources of Illustration” section and must include a link to AIC’s website (www.artic.edu/aic).
Thomas Moran, American (b. England, 1837-1926). Grand Canyon, 1912. Oil on pressboard, 15 7/8 x 23 7/8 inches (40.3 x 60.6 cm). The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Missouri. Bequest of Katherine Harvey, 63-44. Photo: Jamison Miller
Art Director
Derry Noyes
For more than 40 years Derry Noyes has designed and provided art direction for close to 800 United States postage stamps and stamp products. She holds a bachelor of arts degree from Hampshire College and a master of fine arts degree from Yale University.
Noyes worked as a graphics designer at Beveridge and Associates, a Washington, D.C., firm, until 1979 when she established her own design firm, Derry Noyes Graphics. Her clients have included museums, corporations, foundations, and architectural and educational institutions. Her work has been honored by American Illustration, the Art Directors Club of Metropolitan Washington, Communication Arts, Critique magazine, Graphis, Creativity International, and the Society of Illustrators.
Before becoming an art director for the U.S. Postal Service, she served as a member of the Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee from 1981 to 1983.
Noyes is a resident of Washington, D.C.