"Legends of the West - Indian Chief" by Chris Calle, Mixed Media Painting on Illustration Board

Presented is the original mixed media illustration of "Legends of the West - Indian Chief" by Chris Calle. The vibrant illustration features a head and shoulders portrait of a Native American chief. The chief is wearing an elaborate feathered and beaded headdress. 

Chris Calle painted this in December of 1993, for inclusion in the “Legends of the Old West” stamp series. This painting was published on the 1994 Fleetwood Mint Stamps of the World “Legends of the Old West” Collector's Panel. When the “Legends of the Old West” stamps were issued on October 18, 1994, a set of postal cards with the same designs was also issued. Although it is common practice now, this was the first time that a set of stamps and cards shared the same designs.

Chris Calle has earned an international reputation as a stamp designer and illustrator. His first FDC cachet drawing is from 1969 and depicts Armstrong and Aldrin on the Moon. His interest in art continued in college, where he earned a BFA at the University of Michigan School of Fine Art in 1983, majoring in illustration. One of his first professional assignments was the Harry S. Truman stamp in the Great Americans series. In the next 12 years, Chris designed over 30 U.S. stamps, and hundreds more for entities as diverse as Sweden, Marshall Islands, and the United Nations. And over nearly two decades, Chris produced more than 1,000 Fleetwood FDC cachet paintings. 

Chris Calle designed the 1989 $2.40 Priority Mail 20th Anniversary Moon Landing stamp, which depicts Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin planting the American flag on the Moon. He then jointly designed two stamps in 1994 for the 25th Anniversary of the Moon Landing with his father Paul Calle, who had designed the iconic First Man on the Moon stamp in 1969. Chris Calle’s outstanding work also appears in many publications and is represented in corporate, private, and museum collections throughout the world. 

CONDITION:

Mixed-media on illustration board. Signed lower right. Mixed Media on Illustration Board. Past “Unicover Corporation” numbered collection stamp, as well as dated United States First Day Cover Society collection stickers, on the verso.

Framed with archival top mats, UV Conservation Clear glass, and custom-made wooden frame with silver fillet. 

Framed Dimensions: 36 H x 31 3/4 W x 1 1/2 D



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