What:
The U.S. Postal Service will pay tribute to Winslow Homer, an American artist honoring his works with the issuance of a commemorative stamp. The stamp, which is the ninth in the American Treasures series, features Boys in a Pasture, an 1874 oil-on-canvas painting by Homer.

Who:
Ross Philo, chief information officer and executive vice president, U.S. Postal Service
Howard G. O’Connor, postmaster, Richmond, VA, U.S. Postal Service
David E. Failor, manager, Stamp Services, U.S. Postal Service
Gary Shelton, manager, Post Office Operations, Richmond District, U.S. Postal Service
Janet Klug, member, Citizens’ Stamp Advisory Committee, U.S. Postal Service
James E. Lee, president, American Stamp Dealers Association
Wade E. Saadi, president, American Philatelic Society
Jacob Cheeks, district manager, Richmond District, U.S. Postal Service

When:
Thursday, August 12, 2010, noon

Where:
Greater Richmond Convention Center
403 North 3rd Street
Richmond, VA 23219-1715

Background:
Winslow Homer (1836-1910) is considered one of the greatest American painters of the 19th century. Born in Boston, Massachusetts, he began a two-year apprenticeship in a lithography shop at the age of 19 and afterwards became a freelance illustrator. In 1859, he moved to New York City, where he studied at the National Academy of Design and worked as a freelance artist for Harper’s Weekly magazine. In 1861, at the start of the Civil War, the magazine sent him to the front lines as an artist-correspondent.

In 1962, the U.S. Post Office Department honored Winslow Homer by issuing a 4-cent stamp featuring Breezing Up (A Fair Wind), a painting of a man and three boys sailing. In 1998, Homer’s painting The Fog Warning appeared as one of 20 designs on the Four Centuries of American Art stamp pane.

Inaugurated in 2001 with the Amish Quilts stamp pane, the American Treasures series consists of annual issuances intended to showcase beautiful works of American fine art and crafts.

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