Magyar Posta is issuing a special pair of se-tenant stamps and a numbered souvenir sheet with a surcharge for the 95th Stamp Day, which marks the 100thanniversary of the birth of the graphic artist and stamp designer József Vertel. The new issues designed by the graphic artist György Kara were produced by ANY Security Printing Company, and will be available at first day post offices and Filaposta in Hungary from 31 March 2022 but may also be ordered from Magyar Posta’s online store. Magyar Posta devotes the HUF 300 surcharge on each souvenir sheet to supporting organised stamp collecting in Hungary.
The stamps celebrating the 95th Stamp Day commemorate the 100th anniversary of the birth of József Vertel (1922-1993), graphic artist and stamp designer. An overview of decades of Hungarian stamp issuing is shown through the oeuvre of the artist often referred to as the lyrist of Hungarian stamps. “The stamp, and thus the Hungarian stamp, is the face of the country,” Vertel believed.
József Vertel was born in Dömös and studied at the Academy of Fine Arts, where he was taught by Vilmos Aba-Novák and György Konecsni. Later, he taught at the Secondary School of Fine Arts. He was one of the most celebrated and busiest Hungarian stamp designers, who designed nearly 500 stamps for Hungary, and roughly 200 stamps for other countries (Lebanon, Libya, Algeria and Mongolia) as well as the United Nations between 1950 and 1992. His stamps were awarded “Stamp of the Year” eight times.
The stamp of the souvenir sheet shows Vertel at work. The design of the frame of the souvenir sheet and the pair of stamps includes some of the artist’s stamps that formed a defining part of his oeuvre. The background printing of the pair of stamps features a sketch of a panorama of Budapest he designed for the set of stamps for the 34th Stamp Day. The commemorative first day cover of the souvenir sheet features his engraving of Prince Ferenc II Rákóczi after a painting by Ádám Mányoki, and his watercolour of Budapest’s Matthias Church appears on the first day cover ofthe pair of stamps. The artist’s well-known signature is used for the special postmark.
