Artist stamps

Artist stamps

MailArt was the only way for many people in communist-ruled countries to contact the outside world, especially during the Cold War. Regardless of this, MailArt was nothing more than an exchange of art that took place by letter. So it was obvious for creative people to decorate their own mail with their own stamps as well. Neither the test of the post, nor the saving of postage stamps were in the foreground. The letter should arrive, after all, artist stamps in the sense of this MailArt were/are always affixed in addition to the normal postage. But one will not be able to exclude the fact that some need the "kick".

My definition: "An artist's stamp in the sense of MailArt is an expression of an artist's opinion in a very small space. The techniques used for this purpose range from rubber stamps (even multicolored) to purely copied stamps to one-of-a-kind stamps made partly or entirely by hand."

The spectrum of subjects covered ranged from personal expression, political, cultural in nature to the most diverse artistic directions imaginable.

MailArt was, if you will, the forerunner of the Internet at the time and lives on today, despite fast computers.

GJW