Skip to main content
Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 3

Joe Tilson
Culture Carriers Stamp Out Art (Lt. Ed. hand signed stamp on franked envelope)

1971

About the Item

JOE TILSON Culture Carriers Stamp Out Art (Hand Signed), from the Collection of Art Critic Anthony Haden-Guest, 1971 Lithograph mounted on franked Airmail envelope (SIGNED) 4 1/4 × 8 3/5 inches Edition of 250 (unnumbered) Signed in ink by Joe Tilson with his initials on the lower left of the lithographic stamp, affixed to the envelope. Unframed As a consequence of the prolonged strike by the Royal Mail postal workers in the United Kingdom, Joe Tilson along with a group of top British Pop artists of the era including David Hockney, Allen Jones, Derek Boshier, (famed poet) Christopher Logue and Richard Hamilton, published ''Culture Carriers Stamp Out Art''to raise funds for the striking workers. The "stamps" were published in a limited edition of only 250 each (some artists, like Paolozzi and Allen Jones created more than one design), with the artists signing each by hand in blue ink with their initials on the lower left. The stamp itself measures 2.5 by 2.25 inches, and it is affixed to a franked (postmarked) International Airmail envelope which measures 4.25 inches by 8.6 inches, bearing the stamped text "Culture Carriers 23 Feb 1971" on the top left, and the stamp "CULTURE CARRIERS STAMP OUT ART" on the lower left (front). and the stamp "STRIKE ISSUE" lower right front of the envelope. Very desirable as an ensemble. these were known as The Post Office Worker's Strike Commemoration Stamps. This particular piece has superb and interesting provenance, as it came from the private collection of the American art critic Anthony Haden-Guest. As additional provenance, we will furnish the buyer with a xerox copy of the receipt from Flair Magazine, and a list of buyers of the stamps -- as Haden-Guest was apparently tasked with collecting funds from collectors for their purchased works through Flair magazine. The artwork consists not just of the signed, limited edition Tilson postage "stamp", but also the franked Airmail envelope, which it is affixed to, with the stamps as described above. The entire mixed media piece is far more desirable than the stamp alone. This will look terrific when framed. An unusual and memorable gift for any Joe Tilson fan - and a great piece of art historical ephemera. A veritable piece of 1970s British Pop (and Royal Mail) - history! Joe Tilson Biography: Joe Tilson (1928 - 2023) was born in London, England. From 1944 to 1946 he worked as a carpenter and cabinet maker before serving in the R.A.F between 1946 and 1949. After leaving military service, he returned to London to study at St. Martin's School of Art from 1949 to 1952, alongside Leon Kosoff and Frank Auerbach, and at the Royal College of Art from 1952 to 55 where he met Peter Blake, Allen Jones, Patrick Caulfield and David Hockney, who alongside Tilson were instrumental in the birth of British Pop Art. In 1955 the Royal College awarded Tilson the Rome Prize, taking him to live in Italy for a year, a country from which he has drawn a lifetime of inspiration. He returned to London in 1957 and took up teaching positions over the next five years at St Martin's School of Art and the Slade School of Fine Art before travelling to New York to teach at The School of Visual Arts. One of the founding figures of British Pop, Tilson was an enthusiastic proponent of political activism, sexual liberation and social change. He consistently broke the pre-existing boundaries of printing and print-making as he sought to widen the scope and impact of contemporary art. However, by 1970, Tilson became increasingly disillusioned with the consumer society that Pop Art had done so much to highlight and increasingly frustrated with the lack of political action that the 1960s in Britain had promised. He moved from London to the countryside and his subject matter changed radically as he turned towards cultural history as a source of inspiration. Tilson has been a lifelong dedicated printmaker and has gained a reputation as one of Britain's foremost artists producing prints, multiples, constructions, paintings and reliefs. Exhibiting globally since the 1960s, Tilson's work is also held in collections including the Tate, London; Victoria and Albert Museum, London; Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool; The Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, Lisbon; Galleria Nazionale d Arte Moderna, Rome; Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam; Museum of Modern Art, New York; Yale Centre for British Art, Connecticut; and Walker Art Center, Minneapolis. Tilson was elected a Royal Academician in 2001, becoming a Senior Academician in 2003 when the Royal Academy presented a retrospective of his work. In 2019 he unveiled a new site-specific installation at the Vience Biennale, in collaboration with Swatch, also designing a watch strap. In the same year Tilson won the Charles Wollaston award for the most distinguished work in the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition. He was recently commissioned to design a stained glass window for the Rosslyn Chapel in Edinburgh. In 2023 a brand-new comprehensive monograph on the artist, written by art historian, writer and curator Marco Livingstone, was published by Lund Humphries. Joe Tilson passed away aged 95 on 9 November 2023 in London, England. -Courtesy Cristea Roberts
  • Creator:
    Joe Tilson (1928, British)
  • Creation Year:
    1971
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 4.25 in (10.8 cm)Width: 8.6 in (21.85 cm)Depth: 0.1 in (2.54 mm)
  • Medium:
  • Movement & Style:
  • Period:
  • Condition:
    Very good vintage condition.
  • Gallery Location:
    New York, NY
  • Reference Number:
    1stDibs: LU1745213776992
More From This SellerView All
  • Mel Ramos 50 Years of Pop Art Book (signed, dated and inscribed by Mel Ramos)
    By Mel Ramos
    Located in New York, NY
    Mel Ramos 50 Years of Pop Art (Hand signed, dated and inscribed to Nadine by Mel Ramos), 2010 Softback monograph with dust jacket (hand signed, dated and inscribed by Mel Ramos) Hand...
    Category

    2010s Pop Art Figurative Prints

    Materials

    Offset, Paper, Ink, Mixed Media, Lithograph

  • Angel Without You illustrated monograph (Hand signed by Tracey Emin)
    By Tracey Emin
    Located in New York, NY
    Tracey Emin Angel Without You monograph (Hand signed by Tracey Emin), 2013 Hardback monograph with illustrated boards (hand signed by Tracey Emin) Boldly signed in blue ink by Tracey...
    Category

    2010s Pop Art More Art

    Materials

    Paper, Ink, Mixed Media, Lithograph, Offset

  • Hardback Monograph: Alex Katz in Maine (hand signed and dated by Alex Katz)
    By Alex Katz
    Located in New York, NY
    Alex Katz in Maine, 2005 Hardback monograph (hand signed and dated by Alex Katz) Boldly signed and dated 6.9.10 by Alex Katz on the first front end page 9 3/4 × 11 1/2 × 3/4 inches T...
    Category

    Early 2000s Pop Art Figurative Prints

    Materials

    Ink, Offset, Lithograph, Mixed Media, Paper

  • Lt Ed Tony Shafrazi exhibition catalogue (hand signed, dated by Donald Baechler)
    By Donald Baechler
    Located in New York, NY
    Donald Baechler Limited edition Tony Shafrazi exhibition catalogue (hand signed and dated by Donald Baechler), 1983 Softback monograph (hand signed and dated by Donald Baechler) Bold...
    Category

    1980s Pop Art Figurative Prints

    Materials

    Ink, Offset, Lithograph, Mixed Media, Paper

  • Monograph: Strangeland (Hand signed, dated and inscribed by Tracey Emin)
    By Tracey Emin
    Located in New York, NY
    Tracey Emin Strangeland (Hand signed, dated and inscribed by Tracey Emin), 2005 Hardback monograph with dust jacket (hand signed, dated and inscribed for Ann by Tracey Emin) Hand sig...
    Category

    Early 2000s Pop Art Figurative Prints

    Materials

    Paper, Offset, Lithograph, Mixed Media, Ink

  • OLD SMOBILE (Hand signed and inscribed to famous California native Stan Smith)
    By Ed Ruscha
    Located in New York, NY
    Ed Ruscha OLD SMOBILE (Hand signed and inscribed to famous California native Stan Smith), 1989 Limited Edition Softcover monograph (Hand signed and inscribed to famous California nat...
    Category

    1980s Pop Art Figurative Prints

    Materials

    Paper, Acrylic Polymer, Ink, Mixed Media, Lithograph, Offset

You May Also Like
  • Rare Original Keith Haring Record Art (Keith Haring 1984)
    By Keith Haring
    Located in NEW YORK, NY
    Keith Haring Record Art 1984: Medium: Offset Lithograph on record jacket, vinyl record Dimensions: 12 x 12 inches. Cover: Fair to good overall...
    Category

    1980s Pop Art Mixed Media

    Materials

    Lithograph, Offset

  • Roy Lichtenstein As I Opened Fire (set of 3 lithographic posters)
    By (after) Roy Lichtenstein
    Located in NEW YORK, NY
    Roy Lichtenstein As I Opened Fire, set of 3 Lithographic Posters: An authorized reproduction of Roy Lichtenstein's painting entitled "As I Op...
    Category

    1960s Pop Art Prints and Multiples

    Materials

    Lithograph, Offset

  • TAKASHI MURAKAMI: DAZZLING CIRCUS Flowers & Skulls Japanese Pop Art Red
    By Takashi Murakami
    Located in Madrid, Madrid
    DAZZLING CIRCUS: EMBRACE PEACE AND DARKNESS WITHIN THY HEART Date of creation: 2016 Medium: Offset lithograph with silver Edition: 300 Size: 68.9 × 53 cm Condition: In mint condition...
    Category

    2010s Pop Art Figurative Prints

    Materials

    Varnish, Lithograph, Offset

  • Liz F&S II.7
    By Andy Warhol
    Located in New York, NY
    1964 Offset lithograph in colors, on wove paper Sheet: 23 1/8 x 23 1/8 in. Edition of 300 Signed and dated in ballpoint pen, lower right Unframed, pristine condition
    Category

    1960s Pop Art Figurative Prints

    Materials

    Offset, Paper, Lithograph

  • Basquiat Paris 1998 (vintage Basquiat announcement)
    By after Jean-Michel Basquiat
    Located in NEW YORK, NY
    Basquiat Paris 1998: Rare vintage original announcement card to the exhibit, Jean-Michel Basquiat Temoignage 1977-1988, Galerie Jerome De Noirmont, Paris, 1998: 6 x 9 inches (folde...
    Category

    1980s Pop Art Figurative Prints

    Materials

    Offset, Lithograph

  • Vintage Pop Art 1997 Offset Lithograph Larry Rivers Music Poster Hamptons NY
    By Larry Rivers
    Located in Surfside, FL
    Larry Rivers "The Music Festival of the Hamptons / July 18-27 1997" poster, Not hand signed. [Dimensions: 24" H x 18" W] Larry Rivers (born Yitzroch Loiza Grossberg) (1923 – 2002) was an American artist, musician, filmmaker, and occasional actor. Considered by many scholars to be the "Godfather" and "Grandfather" of Pop art, he was one of the first artists to merge non-objective, non-narrative art with narrative and objective abstraction. Rivers took up painting in 1945 and studied at the Hans Hofmann School from 1947–48. He earned a BA in art education from New York University in 1951. His work was quickly acquired by the Museum of Modern Art. A 1953 painting Washington Crossing the Delaware was damaged in fire at the museum five years later. He was a pop artist of the New York School, reproducing everyday objects of American popular culture as art. He was one of eleven New York artists featured in the opening exhibition at the Terrain Gallery in 1955 along with Paul Mommer, Leonard Baskin, Peter Grippe During the early 1960s Rivers lived in the Hotel Chelsea, notable for its artistic residents such as Bob Dylan, Janis Joplin, Leonard Cohen, Arthur C. Clarke, Dylan Thomas, Sid Vicious and multiple people associated with Andy Warhol Factory and where he brought several of his French nouveau réalistes friends like Yves Klein who wrote there in April 1961 his Manifeste de l'hôtel Chelsea, Arman, Martial Raysse, Jean Tinguely, Niki de Saint-Phalle, Christo & Jean Claude, Daniel Spoerri or Alain Jacquet, several of whom, like Rivers, left some pieces of art in the lobby of the hotel for payment of their rooms. In 1965, Rivers had his first comprehensive retrospective in five important American museums. His final work for the exhibition was The History of the Russian Revolution, which was later on extended permanent display at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, DC. He spent 1967 in London collaborating with the American painter Howard Kanovitz. In 1968, Rivers traveled to Africa for a second time with Pierre Dominique Gaisseau to finish their documentary Africa and I, which was a part of the groundbreaking NBC series Experiments in Television. During this trip they narrowly escaped execution as suspected mercenaries. During the 1970s, Rivers worked closely with Diana Molinari and Michel Auder on many video tape projects, including the infamous Tits, and also worked in neon. Rivers's legs appeared in John Lennon and Yoko Ono's 1971 film Up Your Legs Forever. From 1940–1945 he worked as a jazz saxophonist in New York City, changing his name to Larry Rivers in 1940 after being introduced as "Larry Rivers and the Mudcats" at a local pub. He studied at the Juilliard School of Music in 1945–46, along with Miles Davis, with whom he remained friends until Davis's death in 1991. Larry Rivers was born in the Bronx to Samuel and Sonya Grossberg, Jewish immigrants from Ukraine. In 1945, he married Augusta Berger, and they had one son, Steven. Rivers also adopted Berger's son from a previous relationship, Joseph, and reared both children after the couple divorced. In 1949 he had his first one-man exhibition at the Jane Street Gallery in New York. This same year, he met and became friends with John Ashbery, and Kenneth Koch. In 1950 he met Frank O’Hara. This same year he took his first trip to Europe spending eight months in Paris, France, reading and writing poetry. Beginning in 1950 and continuing until Frank’s death in July of 1966, Larry Rivers and Frank O’Hara cultivated a uniquely creative friendship that produced numerous collaborations, as well as inspired paintings and poems. In 1951 Rivers’ works were shown at the Tibor de Nagy Gallery where he continued to show annually (except 1955) for about 10 years. In 1954 he had his first exhibition of sculptures at the Stable Gallery, New York. In 1955 The Museum of Modern Art acquired Washington Crossing the Delaware. This same year he won 3rd prize in the Corcoran Gallery national painting competition for “Self-Figure.” Rivers’ also painted “Double Portrait of Berdie” in 1955, which was soon purchased by the Whitney Museum. In 1957 he and Frank O’Hara began work on “Stones,” a collaborative mix of images and poetry in a series of lithograph for Tatyana Grosman company ULAE. During this time he also appeared on the television game show “The $64,000.00 Question” where along with another contestant, they both won, each receiving $32,000.00. In 1958 he again spent time in Paris and played in various jazz bands. In 1959 he painted Cedar Bar Menu...
    Category

    1990s Pop Art Abstract Prints

    Materials

    Lithograph, Offset

Recently Viewed

View All