Lucius Richard O'Brien, Sunrise on the Saguenay - 35 cents 1980 - Canadian stamp
Specifications
- Quantity: 5 775 000
- Issue date: March 6, 1980
- Printer: Ashton-Potter Limited
- Scott: #851
Description
The year 1880 proved to be a good year for Canadian art. The Royal Canadian Academy of Arts (a nationwide association of creative artists) and the National Gallery of Canada came into being. In conjunction with the centennial of these events, the Post Office will issue four stamps portraying works created by Academy members and forming part of the collection of the National Gallery. Governor General Dufferin first broached the idea of a Canadian academy of arts. His successor, the Marquis of Lorne, took up the proposal. Difficulties impeded progress. Lorne noted that the project caused "a marvellous amount bitterness and bad language", and that "half the artists are ready just now to choke the other half with their paint brushes". Nevertheless, encouraged by his wife, Princess Louise, Queen Victoria's daughter, he persisted, hoping that the Academy would improve Canadian cultural life by promoting excellence of design, by supporting art schools throughout the country, and by founding a National Gallery at Ottawa. To accomplish the last goal, each person, as a condition of membership in the Academy, donated one of his or her works to the Gallery. Since 1880, academicians have given art now worth approximately $2 000 000 to the institution. Lucius O'Brien (1832-1899) was born at Shanty Bay, Upper Canada. He graduated from Upper Canada College and worked as a civil engineer. After at least twenty years of amateur painting, he turned professional in 1872. His great diplomatic skills smoothed the foundation of the Academy and he thus became its first president. His diploma work, an oil painting entitled "Sunrise on the Saguenay" reproduced on one of the 35-cent stamps, was one of the first paintings acquired by the National Gallery in 1880. Jean Morin Designers, a Montreal firm, is responsible for the graphic design and typography for this stamp issue. For the first time in recent years, a lighter version of the Helvetica typeface in capitals has been used for "Canada".
Canada. Post Office Department. [Postage Stamp Press Release], 1980.
Creators
Based on a painting by Lucius Richard O'Brien
Designed by Jean Morin
Original art
Lucius Richard O'Brien, "Sunrise on the Saguenay", 1880
National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario
Note
The values on this page are in Canadian dollars (CAD).