New Finnish stamps

150th anniversary of the Finnish stamp

The first Finnish stamps, the 5 copeck stamp and the 10 copeck so-called oval stamp, were issued on 1 March 1856. On the 150th anniversary of the Finnish stamp, 1 March 2006, ten different stamps will be issued in six different releases.
The stamps portray the Finnish flag, a lilac twig, an Easter bunny, and the painting Fortuneteller by the internationally renowned Finnish painter Helene Schjerfbeck (1862-1946). On the same day, six coil stamps will be released with the fine artist Akseli Gallen-Kallela (1865-1931) as their theme.

Finnish flag

To commemorate the anniversary, the Finnish flag is flying in a new 1st class non-denominated self-adhesive stamp. Marja-Leena Muukka has designed the stamp. Its picture is based on a photograph taken by Ad Rosila from the Luonnonkuva-arkisto photo archive.

Lilac

The vernal Lilac stamp is also a 1st class non-denominated self-adhesive stamp. The artist behind the stamp is Leena Airikkala.

Coil stamps with Akseli Gallen-Kallela motif

The 1st class non-denominated coil stamps depict Gallen-Kallela's paintings Self-portrait for the Ufilzi Gallery (1916) and Madonna (1891), and an exterior view of Tarvaspdd, the artist's atelier home. The 2nd class non-denominated coil stamps present the graphic art of GallenKallela. They show the posters Bil-Bol (1907), Eroittaja 2 (1906) and Concert Finnois (1900). The works belong to the collections of Gallen-Kallela Museum. The stamps are designed by Tapani Aartomaa.

Easter bunny

Nina Rintala has designed a stamp depicting a hatching Easter chick especially for Easter greetings. The denomination of the egg-shaped self-adhesive stamp is 0.65 euro.

Other new stamps

Fortune teller (1926), a painting by Helene Schjerfbeck, is the motif of the new 0.95 euro stamp. The stamp shows a portion of the painting that belongs to the collections of Ateneum, the Finnish National Gallery. The painting was adapted to the stamp by Antti Raudaskoski.

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