Oleksa Novakivskyi postage stamp

To the 150th anniversary of Oleksa Nowakiwsky postage stamp

Ukraine - the country of creative individuals. Nowadays the list of outstanding Ukrainian artists numbers more than 1,000 people. At least 10 of them have been featured in philately since 1992. This is another proof that a postage stamp is a symbol of the state and tells about its history and culture at the international level.

Stamps devoted to Ukrainian artists and their work

The first postage stamps emerged in the world about 180 years ago. Together with the basic function, they have become one of the symbols of statehood. Through artistic attributes, each country thus highlights its history and cultural heritage.

Ukrainian philately is no exception to this, and during 30 years of independence many outstanding personalities have been marked on art stamps. As part of recreating national colour and identity, the following stamps dedicated to artists have been issued:

·         1994 - 150th anniversary of Ilya Repin;

·         1997 - 125th anniversary of the artist Krychevsky;

·         1998 - Art of Kateryna Bilokur;

·         1999 - Art of Maria Prymachenko;

·         2000 - Art of Tatiana Pat;

·         2008 - 90 years to the first postage stamps of the Ukrainian state, A. Sereda;

·         2008 - 90 years to the first postage stamps of the Ukrainian state, H. Narbut;

·         2008 - Painting by Taras Shevchenko;

·         2017 - Painting by Ivan Aivazovsky;

·         2018 - Painting by Kazimir Malevich;

·         2021 - Painting by Ivan Myasoedov.

Among the listed stamps, blocks and couplings are depictions of distinguished artists and their works. Some are part of a series, others are issued on the occasion of an anniversary.

What is known about the postage stamp

The stamp was part of the planned issue for 2022 according to a previously drawn up and approved thematic plan. Despite the events of February 2022 with military aggression and violation of borders by the russian army, Ukrposhta has not stopped its work. This also applies to the issuance of postage notes.Дата введення в обіг: 14.03.2022

·         Circulation - 130 thousand copies

·         Format of the marked sheet - 170x90 mm

·         Stamp format - 52x25.2 mm

·         Number of stamps per sheet - 6 (3x2)

·         Denomination - V

·         Author of design - V. Vasylenko

Despite the fact that the stamps were issued according to the schedule, Ukrposhta later decided to withdraw them from circulation. The main reason for this was the denomination of the stamp, which corresponds to the rate for sending a regular letter and is marked with the Latin letter V. After all, during the military conflict russian propaganda used the letters V and Z as a sign of support for military aggression.

As a result, Ukrposhta has implemented order № 903 dated 19.08.2022 on withdrawal from circulation of stamps with nominal value V, which were issued after 24.02.2022 and declared them invalid for payment of postal services. Of the total circulation of 130,000, 100,730 stamps were withdrawn and destroyed, while the remaining 29,270 stamps had already managed to be sold through some branches. The conditions mentioned above significantly increase the value of the postage stamp "To the 150th anniversary of the birth of Oleksa Novakovsky" among philatelic collectors.

Description of the stamp with a self-portrait of Ol. Nowakiwsky

The design of the stamp was developed by Ukrainian artist Vasyl Vasylenko, who cooperates with Ukrposhta not for the first time. Among his works there are series " Traditional headdresses of Ukrainians", "Kyiv princesses on the thrones of Europe", "Vira Kholodna" and "Oleksandr Vertynskyi. 1889-1957".

Oleksa Novakivskyi photo resource Photos of old Lviv

Oleksa Nowakiwsky - Ukrainian artist from Vinnytsia region, who worked in the style of post-impressionism. He started studying art in Odesa and continued in Krakow, where he painted many of his first works. There he met his wife, who was 16 years younger than him. Having gained recognition and popularity, he moved to Lviv and founded an art school there. Andrei Sheptytsky helped him in this.

The work "Self-Portrait with a Brush" was painted in 1911 and to this day it is kept in the National Museum in Lviv named after Andrey Sheptytsky. This is not the first self-portrait of the artist, which he created a dozen and a half in oil and more than a hundred sketches using pen, pencil and charcoal. Each of them has a fixed image at a certain time of his life. The works convey the psychological state of the artist, declaring feelings and emotions.

The stamp sheet consists of six stamps of horizontal orientation placed in the center. Its upper part has an inscription with the title "150 years since the birth of Ol. Nowakiwsky". To the left of the inscription is the Art-Memorial Museum of Oleksa Nowakivsky in Lviv.

The portrait of the artist is placed in the center of the stamp, the left and right parts have fields for inscriptions. On the left edge in the upper part there are: a trident, the inscription "Ukraine", the year of issue, the inscription in Latin "Ukraina" and the nominal value. The lower left part has the inscription "150 years since the birth". The lower right part contains: an inscription with the name of the artist, his years of life and the title of the painting and the year of its creation. The inscription "Ol. Nowakiwsky" is stylized in the author's handwriting.

Envelope of the First Day of Oleksa Novakivskyi