Normandy, Impressionism and Stamps

The commemorative stamps for the Normandy Impressionist summer festival, 2010.

To mark the Normandy Impressionism summer Festival 2010, the French Post Office have produced a collection of Impressionist stamps. The collection, entitled ‘Normandie, berceau des Impressionnistes‘ (Normandy, cradle of Impressionism), features 10 different paintings of Normandy landscapes by leading Impressionist painters.

Given his importance, there are three of Claude Monet’s paintings included in the special collection: his view of Rouen (1892), one of his water lilies paintings from 1908, and a painting of the wonderful cliffs at Etretat from 1884. Monet’s mentor, Eugène Boudin is featured twice with a seascape of clouds (1854-9) and the Fisherman at Villerville (1862-5).

The other five Impressionist painters included in the special set of Impressionist stamps are: Edgar Degas, At the Races in the Country (1869); Camille Pissaro with his view of the port of Dieppe (1902) and a view of the port at Le Havre (1903); Édouard Vuillard’s Garden at Amfreville (1905-7); and Paul Signac’s The Lighthouse of Gatteville (1934)

The set of stamps come attached to a presentation page that has some information about each of the original paintings and where there were taken from, and only costs €8.90. This can be ordered online at La Post’s website, which is available in English, German, Italian and Spanish besides French (the link goes straight to the Impressionist collection page).

If any MGN readers are stamp collectors or collectors of all things Impressionism, as I am, and you are having problems buying a set on La Poste’s website, I am more than happy to arrange this for you – just get in touch with me via the contact page (given I really do have a B&B at Basse Copette, I think you can rely on a safe transaction).