Robert T. McCall (1919-2010) (artist)
First Day of Issue Envelope, 1981
American: 1981
Watercolor on first day issue envelope
Signed lower right
4 x 9.5 inches
Provenance: Society of Illustrators, New York City
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McCall Space Stamps - Opening the Space Frontier
First Day of Issue Envelope, 1981
First Day of Issue Envelope, 1981
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A First Day of Issue envelope, cancelled May 21, 1981, based on a 1979 mural at the Johnson Space Center Visitors' Center, Houston, Texas, and eight joined "Space Achievement Stamps," both created by artist Robert T. McCall. A detail of the mural, entitled "Opening the Space Frontier - The Next Giant Step," is shown on the left side of the envelope. The space stamps in the upper right feature space rockets and satellites with an astronaut superimposed over a central space view of the earth.
This unique envelope incorporates a watercolor illustration of a landing craft over the surface of the moon by the artist, signed "Robert T. McCall" and "McCall" and dated 11-21-02. It was specially created by the artist for a benefit auction of the Society of Illustrators, New York City. It bears the cancellation mark, "KENNEDY SPACE CENTER FL 32815, MAY 21 1981."
Robert T. McCall is renowned for his murals, paintings and postage stamp designs commemorating U.S. space exploration. He has chronicled the NASA space program from the early Mercury flights to the space shuttles. His best known works are the dramatic 58 x 75 foot "Space Mural - A Cosmic View" rising from the lobby at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. and "The Prologue and the Promise" mural in the Horizons Pavilion at the Walt Disney EPCOT Center in Orlando, Florida. McCall's first stamp design was issued in 1971, titled "Decades of Achievement," and was officially cancelled on the moon before a worldwide television audience. He is a founding member of the American Society of Aviation Artists. In April 2002, the McCall Museum of Art, a Smithsonian Institution affiliate, was established in Peoria, Illinois, to house the lifetime body of his work.
References:
"Art of Robert T. McCall, The." McCall Museum of Art. http://www.mccallmuseum.org/News/Art_of_R_McCall.htm (6 January 2003).
"Gallery 108: National Air and Space Museum." National Air and Space Museum. 26 March 1999. http://www.nasm.si.edu/galleries/gal108/gal108.html (6 January 2003).
"Our Board." The American Society of Aviation Artists. 2002. http://www.asaa-avart.org/vBoard.html (6 January 2003).
"Robert T. McCall, A Brief Biography." Ariztlan, Inc. 1997. http://www.ariztlan.org/iview/mcc/mcbio.htm (6 January 2003).