United States Postal Service pays tribute to Cuban artist Emilio Sánchez with four commemorative stamps

June 10, 2021

The United States Postal Service (USPS) pays tribute to Cuban-American visual artist Emilio Sánchez Font as of today, June 10, marking 100 years since his birth, with the launch of four commemorative stamps featuring his works.

The agency announced on its website that with the launch of these stamps it celebrates Sánchez's art, "known for his paintings and lithographs on architecture."

"Sánchez explored the effects of light and shadow to emphasize the abstract geometry of his subjects. His work encompasses both his Cuban heritage and his long life in New York City," the U.S. Postal Service website noted.

The artistic work of Sánchez, born in Camagüey in 1921 and died in Warwick, New York, in 1999, will be recognized in the prestigious "Forever" category of the U.S. Postal Service, quite a milestone, given that this is the first time this organization has dedicated one of its stamp series to a creator of Cuban origin.

The four works selected for the "Forever" series are "Los Toldos" (1973), "Ty's Place" (1976), "En el Souk" (1972), and Untitled (Ventanita entreabierta), from 1981, all characterized by their "photographic" style and the "effects of light and shadow to emphasize the abstract geometry of objects."

His work, centered on architectural motifs and houses reproduced down to the smallest detail, the USPS notes, encompasses both his Cuban heritage and his long professional career in New York and other parts of the United States, where he refined his style until achieving a highly realistic representation.

Painter, engraver, and draftsman, Sánchez received his artistic training in the 1940s at the School of the Arts at Columbia University and later at the Art Students League in New York, the city he moved to in 1952.

In 1968, the artist became a U.S. citizen.

His style is characterized by the use of straight lines, angles, vibrant colors, and clean contrast and interplay of light and shadow, as seen in the 1981 painting Untitled (Ventanita entreabierta), qualities that made him one of the most interesting and original artists of the mid-twentieth century.

The USPS initiative is one of the multiple activities and exhibitions taking place this year to promote and introduce to the general public Sánchez's outstanding artistic work.

Thus, the LnS gallery in Miami is offering since this summer and fall the retrospective exhibition "Emilio Sánchez Revisited: A Centenary Celebration of his Life and Work."

In a statement, the Professor of Historical Architecture at the University of Miami (UM) Víctor Deupi, also of Cuban origin, expressed his admiration and surprise at Sánchez's work, an artist he said he was unaware of until just a few years ago.

"I had never heard of him until then and I began my research on Sánchez, which inspired me to create a project that opened different opportunities for me," he told the EFE agency.

Deupi recounts that he was moved to learn that, thanks to the USPS initiative, "more people will have the opportunity to know this relatively unknown artist" on the occasion of the centennial of his birth.

"The commemoration of his work is a significant milestone because no other Cuban visual artist has been honored in this way," the academic emphasized.

He added that this is one of the "outstanding mid-century figures who traveled throughout the Caribbean and Latin America, where he thoroughly documented indigenous cultures, architectural landscapes, and daily life of that era."

"Sánchez was at the forefront in capturing the urban changes that were occurring," noted the UM Architecture professor.

For her part, Jill Deupi, director of the Lowe Art Museum, said it was an honor to exhibit some of Sánchez's works in the museum's permanent collection.

"We are excited. Every year very few images are selected for USPS stamps, so the inclusion of our Sánchez painting (in the stamps) is something very prestigious," Deupi said.

Before his death, Sánchez stipulated the creation of the Emilio Sanchez Foundation in order to "preserve, promote, and sell his numerous works of art," the result of a prolific life as an artist.

The current foundation allocates funds for research assistance in ophthalmology and art scholarships.

During practically his entire life Sánchez suffered from vision problems and came close to losing the sight in one eye in his later years, which did not prevent him from continuing to paint.