1998 32c Four Centuries of American Art: Ammi Phillips

US #3236c
1998 Ammi Phillips

• Shows detail from Girl in Red Dress with Cat and Dog
• From a pane featuring 20 art pieces produced by American artists
• Part of Classic Collection series

Stamp Category: Commemorative,
Set:  Four Centuries of American Art
Value: 32¢, First Class Mail Rate
First Day of Issue: August 27, 1998
First Day City: Santa Clara, California
Quantity Issued: 4,000,000
Printed by: Sennett Security Products
Printing Method: Photogravure
Format: Pane of 20
Perforations: 10.2

Why the stamp was issued: This stamp is part of a pane highlighting 20 of the most important American works of art produced in the last 400 years.

About the stamp design: The stamps show details from 20 works.  In this stamp, the dog mentioned in the title of the painting was cropped out. Howard Paine, a USPS art director, designed the layout for the pane.  He consulted with an expert on American art in choosing which paintings to include. Paine arranged the art in chronological order.

First Day City: The First Day of Issue ceremony took place at the opening event of stampshow 98, which took place in Santa Clara, California.

About the Classic Collection series: The Classic Collections series began in 1994 with the Legends of the West issue.  The idea originated from Carl Burcham, manager of stamp and product marketing for USPS at the time.  Each Classic Collections set consists of a pane of 20 different semi-jumbo stamps with descriptive selvage at the top (header) and informational text on the back of each stamp beneath the gum.  The stamps are “broadly defined, Americana-themed subjects.”
The series began six years earlier with the infamous Legends of the West sheet in 1994. Each sheet in the series would have the same unique 20-stamp format.  Each would have broadly defined Americana themes, exceptional artwork, a banner printed on the selvage of the sheet, and descriptive text on the back of each stamp. Additionally, postal cards with matching artwork would be issued to coordinate with a few of the sheets.
In 1998, the sixth addition to the series honored four centuries of American Art.  The text on the back of the pane reads, “The American artists represented here were born in diverse places around this country, as well as elsewhere. Some were self-taught, others were academically trained…  These images … reflect some of the enduring themes in American visual arts: a concern with individuality in a democratic society, reverence for the variety of landscape across the continent, down-to-earth realism, and a recurring sense of optimism and energy.”

History the stamps represent:  Perhaps the most startling characteristic of the art of Ammi Phillips (1788-1865) is that throughout his distinguished career he used so many different styles. 
It was estimated that Phillips painted portraits for over 50 years and may have produced as many as 2,000 in several different styles. In fact, Phillips changed his style so frequently that his works were once attributed to many different artists. Today only a quarter of the 2,000 paintings can be definitely attributed to him.
Phillips’ style varied so greatly because he traveled throughout the northeast during his career. His first entry into the art world was in 1809, when he offered his portrait services in an advertisement in a Massachusetts newspaper. These works were characterized by long, full-length views. 
By 1813, Phillips was living in Troy, New York. His work from this period, once attributed to “the border limner,” is characterized by light pastel colors, and three-quarter to full-length figures, with dark lined faces. 
Phillips’ paintings of the 1820s showed greater realism, but those of the 1840s were less detailed. By the 1860s his paintings inevitably began to be greatly influenced by photography, marking the end of an era.