Artistamps is a word coined back in 1982, as mentioned in the article A History of Poster Stamps.
I do not claim to be an expert, my personal knowledge is limited, but we hope to inform members about stamps recently made and possibly for sale. Artistamps are one of the nearest things to modern poster stamps today, although they are not produced with standard commerce in mind, so they are generally produced in limited quantities and not always for sale.
Poster stamps at their best 100 years ago, were artistically made, and held a “message”, they were not just decor for a scrapbook, and the best of modern artistamps do the same. It is possible to find messages in the modern era, similar to long ago, including for example:
- Propaganda elements for a social cause, a political cause or candidate
- Charity intentions, where the promotion & profits from the stamp sale are a donation for a non-profit group
- Artistic promotion, perhaps just for the artist him/her self
- Event announcements (more rare, but they occur)
There are a number of websites concerned with mail art and artistamps: https://artistampmuseum.blogspot.com
We welcome submissions, scans of recent items by member collectors or creators to be included in this Artistamp Gallery section. Artists and printers should be correctly credited, information on printing and creation methods is also desired.
Gallery
Included above is the cover of the book The World of Donald Evans, Willy Eisenhart, Abbeville Press NY 1994. Donald Evans, sadly, died in a fire in 1977, and so his work ended long ago, but is worthwhile viewing for any philatelist. A longer article about Donald Evans and this book can be found in the members-only area of filed Articles [in process].
Other books on the general subject:
- Small Scale Subversion: Mail Art & Artistamps, by John Held, Jr., TAM Publishing, Netherlands co. 2015.
- Gina Lotta Post Artistamp Museum and Archive Catalog: vol. 4 to 6, by Ginny Lloyd, TropiChaCha Press, USA co. 2014-8, are available through Lulu on demand publishing.