Hudson River School forever stamps Aug. 21

Four Hudson River School paintings will grace new stamps in the United States Postal Service’s American Treasures series. The stamps will be issued Aug. 21 in Hartford, Conn., during the American Philatelic Society’s Stampshow.

The nondenominated (49¢) Hudson River School forever stamps will be sold in a double-sided pane of 20, convertible booklet format.

The new set is the 12th issue in the American Treasures stamp series, which began in 2001 with four 32¢ Amish Quilts stamps (Scott 3524-3527).

The first-day ceremony will take place at 11 a.m. in Ballroom A of the Connecticut Convention Center, 100 Columbus Blvd., Hartford, Conn. The ceremony is open to the public.

USPS art director Derry Noyes designed the stamps using four different works of art: an 1830 oil painting titled Distant View of Niagara Falls by Thomas Cole, from the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago; the 1865 oil panting Summer Afternoon by Asher B. Durand, the Metropolitan Museum of Art; an 1856 oil painting titled Sunset by Frederic Edwin Church, the Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute; and Grand Canyon, a 1912 oil painting by Thomas Moran, Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art.

“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,” the Postal Service wrote in its description of the new stamps. “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.”

Cole, who at age 17 in 1818 emigrated with his family from England to the United States, is considered the founder of the Hudson River School for his role in inspiring other artists.

CCL Label of Clinton, S.C., produced an initial quantity of 100 million of the Hudson River School stamps.

Along with the double-sided pane of 20, the Postal Service will sell Hudson River School stamp press sheets, both with and without the die cuts that normally separate individual stamps. Each press sheet consists of four panes and sells for $39.20. A total of 1,000 press sheets with die cuts and 1,500 without die cuts will be available.

Technical details and first-day cancel information for the Hudson River School stamps are provided below. Collectors have 60 days to obtain the first-day cancel.

Nondenominated (49¢) Hudson River School forever stamps

FIRST DAY— Aug. 21, 2014; city— Hartford, Conn., and nationwide.

DESIGN: existing art— Thomas Cole, Frederic E. Church, Thomas Moran, Asher B. Durand; designer, typographer and art director— Derry Noyes, Washington, D.C.; modeler— CCL Label Inc.; engraver— WRE; series— American Treasures.

PRINTING: process— gravure; printer and processor— CCL Label Inc., Clinton, S.C.; press— Dia Nippon Kiko; inks— yellow, magenta, cyan, black; paper— phosphored tagged, overall block tagging; gum— self-adhesive; issue quantity— 100 million stamps; format— double-sided pane of 20 (convertible booklet format), from 80-subject cylinders; size— 1.42 inches by 0.84 inches (image); 1.56 inches by 0.98 inches (overall); 3.12 inches by 6.13 inches (full pane); plate numbers— “C” followed by four single digits; marginal markings— plate numbers, “©2014 USPS,” USPS logo, bar code 689500; USPS item No.— 689504.

First-day cancel ordering information

Collectors requesting first-day cancels are encouraged to purchase their own stamps and affix them to envelopes. The first-day cover envelopes should be addressed for return (a removable label may be used), and mailed in a larger envelope addressed to Hudson River School Stamps, Hartford Post Office, MOWU, 141 Weston St., Hartford, CT 06101-9998. Requests for first-day cancels must be postmarked by Oct. 20.

The Postal Service’s uncacheted set of four first-day covers for the Hudson River School stamps is USPS item No. 689516 at $3.72.