'Chinese Landscape Painting' - Macau, 2016

'Chinese Landscape Painting' - Macau, 2016, posted on Oct 9th, from Macau to Shenyang, China, with the special and first day postmarks. Thank you, Boss He!

The stamp set includes the following water and ink paintings

• Autumn of Danxia
• Verdant Shennongjia
• A night of rain at the mountain, cascades from the rocks
• Waterfalls against the cliffs
• Golden Autumn of Xiajiang 

In 2016, the Macau Post issued two sets of Chinese painting stamps, which was unusual since both of them share similar audience (me :), for example). The additional postage was paid by using e-stamps, which has become a hot collecting topic among Macau stamp collectors. The Macau Post issues a Zodiac e-stamp every year with limited quantities and they have been sold out quickly and older issues on covers are highly sought-after. 

'Traveler at Shanyin County' - Taiwan, 2016

'Traveler at Shanyin County' (山陰客窗圖), Taiwan, 2016, posted from Taiwan to Shenyang, China, on Oct 24th, with first day postmarks. All the covers were mailed from the National Museum of History where the original painting is housed. Thank you Shiqing! 

1 - Cover with a pair souvenir sheet: The Changyong Post issued a pair of uncut souvenir sheet with a relatively small quantity. This is an official FDC. 

2 - Cover with two fan painting issues in 2016. This cover includes the other fan painting and calligraphy souvenir sheet issued on Jan 13th of the same year.

3 - Cover with a single souvenir sheet. 

Lan Ying (藍瑛) was a master from the Zhe School of China, who was mostly famous for his paintings of landscape, flowers, and people figures. His paintings reflect one of the traditional philosophies in oriental artwork, that is, the harmony between people and nature. His brushwork is simple but exquisite, again a reflection of the admiration of nature and simplicity in life shared by many oriental intellectuals. 

‘Painting and Calligraphy on the Fan Souvenir Sheet’ – Taiwan, 2016

Painting and calligraphy on the fan is a genre of Chinese art that the Chinese populace, especially intellectuals, cherish.  The FDC was issued on Jan 13th, 2016 featuring painting and calligraphy by Wen Zhengming, a famous artist in the Ming Dynasty. The fan is a prized exhibit of the National Museum of History, where the FDCs in the picture were sent. Both a paper and bamboo chip version were issued (mine is a paper version), which are the materials to make a fan. The additional five sets of fan painting and calligraphy stamps were issued in Taiwan during 1970s.

This set was purchased from another collector and remains as one of my favorites. The way that relevant stamps are added to the new issued FDC is called Jia Tie (). I am not sure whether this concept is popular in other countries but in China, it is becoming an area where collectors can maximize their knowledge, creation, and imagination, while minizine their pocket during the process. Well, some of them are too wealthy to care :)

'Paintings of Macao’s Famous Artists' - Macau, 2016

'Paintings of Macao’s Famous Artists' white and official FDC covers, posted on Aug 25, 2016 from Macau to Shenyang, China, with first day and special postmarks. Thank you, Boss He.

The quality of Macau stamps is exceptional. This stamp set is well designed and printed, which includes six stamps and a souvenir sheet. Based on the information provided by Macau Post, the following artists and paintings are included

• Multiple Artists, Joint Effort – “Pine, Chrysanthemum, Flowers and Birds”
• Ng Meng – “Meeting at the later year” “Mountain and Water”
• Lok Cheong – “Nest-bound Birds” “Sai Van Waterfront”
• Kuan Man Le – “Fishing Alone in the Willow Shade” “Angelfish” 
• Tam Chi Sang – “A Ma Temple” “ Kun Iam Temple”
• Kam Cheong Ling – “The Lifestyle of Fishing Harbour” “The Convent of the Precious Blood”
• Kwok Se – “Post Office” “Sailing Boats”

'175th Anniversary of Vasily Vereshchagin' and '150th Anniversary of A.E. Arkhipov' - Russia, 2017

'The 175th Birth Anniversary of Vasily Vereshchagin (1842‒1904)' and 'The 150th Birth Anniversary of A.E. Arkhipov (1862-1930)' souvenir sheets on cover, posted on Jul 25th, 2017, from Novosibirsk, Russia to New York, NY. The first souvenir sheet was first issued on May 24th, 2017 and the latter on Sep 9th, 2012. Thank you, Alexander!

Vasily Vereshchagin  (1842–1904) was one of the most famous war artists in Russia. He traveled extensively to war zones and even took part in combats. He enjoyed fame and controversy at the same time as his paintings realistically depict 'the horror of war'.

Abram Arkhipov was a member of the art collective The Wanderers (The Itinerants). He paints the life of the Russian peasants and landscapes. The stamp depicts his painting "Visiting", with his portrait as the backgroup. 

I got lucky this time as the cover was received before the local post office was able to freelance on it :). But there is still a small mark reads '8/2' which may indicate its arrival date. Alexander was amazed by its speed.

'Ancient Chinese Paintings by Giuseppe Castiglione, Qing Dynasty' - Taiwan, 2017

'Ancient Chinese Paintings by Giuseppe Castiglione, Qing Dynasty', posted on Oct 8th, 2015 from Taiwan to Shenzhen, with special and first day postmarks. The first two are official FDCs and the latter two are white covers.

Giuseppe Castiglione (郎世宁) was a prominent Italian painter, who served in the imperial court during Qing Dynasty's ascend to her peak. His paintings, which fuse the western skill with oriental culture, were well-regarded by the emperors he served, including Kangxi, Yongzheng, and Qianlong. In addition, he was the architect in charge of designing the western-styled Old Summer Palace, which was looted and burned by the British and French armies in 1859.

The Changhua Post has issued several sets of stamps with Giuseppe Castiglione's paintings, including the 'Eight Prized Horses Paintings Postage Stamps' in 1973, the 'Peacocks' in 1991, this set in 2015, and the 'Flowers and Birds' in 2016 and 2017.

‘Back to Common Roots’ – Macau, 2017

Minisheet, stamp set, and souvenir sheet on covers from Macao to Shenyang, China, posted on Feb 10th, 2017, with first day special and day postmarks. Thank you, Boss He!

Local artist, Lok Hei, painted this Chinese traditional scroll painting. Here is the introduction published by Macao Post: the painting “illustrates in image form about the rich Chinese and Western culture with long history that meet at Macao, and affect each other creatively. The people come together and dedicate themselves in promoting the political, economic and cultural development of Macao; the joy of returning to the motherland and the new appearance of the special administrative region, etc. Lok Hei is the first person to create this kind of drawing in Macao’s art history.”

'World Heritage the Third Series 10' - Japan, 2017

World Heritage the Third Series 10 - "The Architectural Work of Le Corbusier, an Outstanding Contribution to the Modern Movement" (The National Museum of Western Art), posted from Kobe and Tokyo, Japan to New York, USA on Jul 14th, 2017, with first day special and day postmarks. Thank you, Ye, Ban-no, and Kouichi!

The stamp set includes the following artworks

• "The Thinker (Enlarged)" by Auguste Rodin
• "Roses" by Vincent van Gogh
• "Boy in Flowers (Jacques Hoschede)" by Edouard Manet
• "The Port of Saint-Tropez" by Paul Signac
• "Water Lilies" by Claude Monet

Note how my local post office 'sign' my registered covers? I've complained multiple times to no avail. They still mark my registered covers to this day and there's nothing I can do about it. The postal clerks at the front desk are actually quite amenable to philatelic requests but whoever controls the destiny of registered covers just loves his/her signature a little too much. 

'Treasures from German Museums' - Germany, 2017

Treasures from German Museums - Johannes Vermeer and Jean-Baptiste Oudry, posted on Jan 2nd, 2017 from Germany to New York. Thank you Wolfgang.

Wolfgang was generous enough to send me this awesome set of painting stamps on cover when I just started post-crossing. There are two variants of the set, normal and self-adhesive, as well as two special postmarks from Bonn and Berlin. The set features Jean-Baptiste Oudry's "Pfefferfresser, Jungfern- und Haubenkranich (Pepper eater, crab crane and crane?)" from the Staatliches Museum Schwerin and Johannes Vermeer's "Das Mädchen mit dem Weinglas (The Girl with Wine Glass)" from the Herzog Anton Ulrich Museum in Braunschweig. Vermeer is obviously the famous one in the duo, who mainly painted everyday life in Holland during the Golden Age. Most of his paintings are based on domestic interior scenes which usually include side lights from an open window.  

'200th Anniv of Ivan Aivazovsky (1817‒1900), a Painter' - Russia, 2017

'The 200th Birth Anniversary of Ivan Aivazovsky (1817‒1900), a Painter' souvenir sheet from Novosibirsk, Russia to New York, USA, posted on Jul 25th, 2017, on the first day of issue. Thank you Alexander!

Ivan Aivazovsky was well-known in Russia, but not much so in China. As many of you already know, P.R.C. was significantly influenced by the Soviet Union when she was in her cradle, industrially, ideologically, and culturally. Till this day, the Soviet Union's influence can still be felt in the older generation of China, particularly on music and painting. However, Ivan Aivazovsky was lesser known in China due to his focus on seascapes (or maybe it is just my ignorance).

BTW, the Soviet Union issued several stamps in 1967 to commemorate his 150 birth anniversary.

'Japanese Paintings' - Japan, 2017

Japanese paintings issue from Kobe and Yokohama, Japan to New York, USA, posted on Jun 7th, 2017, the first day of issue. Thank you Kouichi and Masako!

Year 2017 has seen several painting related stamps issued by the Japan Post, including the Philately Week, World Heritage, Ukiyo-e Series 6, and International Letter-Writing Week. Stamps in this issue come out smaller than I thought but nevertheless a nice set.

'130th Anniv of the Birth of Marc Chagall Stained Glass' - France, 2017

1- Marc Chagall Stained Glass minisheet from Paris to China, posted on Jan 13th, 2017, the first day of issue. Thank you Mz. Guo! Two additional stamps feature 'The Couple of the Eiffel Tower' issued in 1963 and another stained window stamps by Chagall issued by LaPoste.
2- The same minisheet, with a philatelic postmark, posted on Aug 14th, 2017. Thank you, Dousset!

Marc Chagall is one of my favorite artists, whose imagination and mastering of color are uniquely intriguing. I like him so much that I use one of his stained windows picture as my Wechat avatar. Several other countries also issued Chagall stained windows stamps, including Israel  and United Nations (apart from commercial stamps).

'A Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains' - China, 2017

Covers from various locations in China to USA, posted on Feb 25, 2017, the first day of issue. Thank you Peng, Jueming, and Xiaoming!

This minisheet features one of the most celebrated Chinese painting 'A Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains' (千里江山图) by Wang Ximeng (王希孟) during the Northern Song period. This painting is believed to be the only surviving work by the renowned painter. He was only 18 when he finished this long scroll measured 39 feet. The painting is now part of the permanent collection of the Palace Museum in Beijing. 

It is also interesting to note how the US Post Services sort and mark these covers. Only one cover was lucky enough to have a sticker with spray on codes.

'Hommage to Rik Wouters' - Belgium, 2016

Cover from Belgium to US with special postmarks. Thank you Henri!

Rik Wouters was a Belgian fauvist painter. I like how his topics are represented by bold colors and expressive brushwork. The selected stamps beautifully reproduced some of his most famous works.

'Iris Screen, Philately Week' - Japan, 2017

Japan Philately Week 2017 covers from Yokohama and Tokyo, Japan to New York, US, posted on Apr 20, 2017. Thank you Masako and Ban-No.

This year, the Philately Week stamps feature a folding screen 'Iris Screens' by Edo period painter Ogata Korin (1658 - 1716). A similar stamp was issued in 1970 to commemorate the Expo '70 (日本万国博覧会) held in Osaka.