New U.S. Postage Stamp has a Lighthouse
Connection
Each year brings excitement for stamp collectors when the
United States Postal Service issues a new round of stamp subjects, and
2009 is no exception.
Many lighthouse aficionados nationwide are highly
anticipating the issuance of another USPS series of lighthouse stamps,
with this year’s release being Gulf Coast Lighthouses, but the
2009 connection between postage stamps and lighthouses doesn’t end with
this five-stamp collection.
The nonprofit American Lighthouse Foundation and its Cape
Cod Chapter are excited
Photo courtesy Mark Saunders, USPS
The Long Leg by artist Edward
Hopper
Photo courtesy Norm Poindexter
1940s photo of Long Point Lighthouse from
the same vantage point as depicted in The Long Leg
about the summer
2009 release of another postage stamp – The Long Leg by renowned
artist Edward Hooper, which features Cape Cod’s Long Point Lighthouse within
the stamp art.
A United States Postal Service press release notes, “A sunlit painting by
Edward Hopper is showcased in this ninth entry in the American Treasures
series. The Long Leg, painted in oil on canvas around 1930, depicts a
boat sailing against the wind near Provincetown, MA. TheLong Leg
is in the collection of the Huntington Library, Art Collections, and
Botanical Gardens, in San Marino, CA. Art director Derry Noyes of
Washington, DC, cropped the painting for use in the stamp art.”
Photo by Bob Trapani, Jr.
Long Point Lighthouse
“The American Treasures series was inaugurated in
2001. It is intended to exhibit beautiful works of American fine art and
crafts. The stamp will be dedicated Aug. 6 at the American Philatelic
Society Stamp Show in Pittsburgh, PA.”
Though Long Point Lighthouse is not the primary focus of
Hooper’s painting, its presence within The Long Leg is vivid in
appearance, complementing quite nicely the depicted boat sailing inside
Provincetown Harbor.
Long Point Lighthouse is one of three historic beacons along the sandy arm
of Cape Cod that is cared for by the American Lighthouse Foundation’s Cape
Cod Chapter. Race Point and Wood End are the other two nearby lighthouses
that the Cape Cod Chapter, led by chapter chairman James Walker, has
restored and is preserving.
“I’m happy that this painting has been chosen as a stamp, particularly since
it depicts a lighthouse that’s been so well cared for by the Cape Cod
Chapter of the American Lighthouse Foundation,” says Jeremy D’Entremont, ALF
Historian. “Since 1827, countless mariners have been safely guided by this
light at the sandy fingertip of Cape Cod’s bended arm.”
D’Entremont further notes, “Edward Hopper was one of the twentieth century’s
greatest American artists, and he repeatedly turned to lighthouses as a
subject. He was drawn, I think, not so much to their prettiness, but more to
their moodiness and isolation. There’s a cool, still quality to his
painting, The Long Leg, that makes it memorable.”
The American Lighthouse Foundation
assumed stewardship of Long Point Lighthouse in June 1998 after entering
into a license agreement with the United States Coast Guard that
provided the nonprofit lighthouse group the opportunity to preserve the
light tower and oil house – the only
Photo courtesy USCG
The keeper's house and bell tower no
longer stand at Long Point Light Station
remaining historic
structures at the site from this once-proud light station.
Timothy Harrison, former American Lighthouse Foundation president
(1994-2007) and the individual who led the effort to bring Long Point
Lighthouse under the care of ALF, says, “I think it’s really neat that an
ALF lighthouse is on a United States postage stamp, even though that was not
the intention of the post office when deciding to issue a stamp to honor
Edward Hooper.”
“However, we should be thankful that an artist with such talent as Edward
Hopper was able to capture the lighthouse the way it appeared before the
government eventually destroyed history by demolishing the keeper’s house.”
Long Point
Lighthouse continues to sport a proud appearance today thanks to the Cape
Cod Chapter’s ongoing care at the site. During late-October
Photo courtesy Bob Trapani, Jr.
Volunteers from the Cape Cod Chapter
and New England Lighthouse Lovers at
Long Point Light
2006, the Cape Cod Chapter and the New England
Lighthouse Lovers, both ALF chapters, teamed-up on an important project
to repaint the exterior of the sentinel.
The Cape Cod Chapter and the New England Lighthouse
Lovers will be returning once again to Long Point Light in April 2009 to
carry out some additional maintenance and housekeeping measures – and to
keep the lighthouse looking sharp.
In learning about the 2009 USPS release of The Long Leg by Edward
Hopper, ALF president Dorothy Black remarked, “What an exciting day for the
American Lighthouse Foundation. We as volunteers all work hard to preserve
lighthouses and to ensure their history remains in place for years to come.
What a great celebration this will be to have one of ALF’s lighthouses on a
postage stamp for everyone to see, which will add another piece of public
awareness for lighthouses.”
