Marte Röling as a versatile stamp designer

Marte Röling (1939) is a well-known artist in the Netherlands and lives in Uithuizen, Groningen. She has a large and versatile oeuvre to her name, including paintings, fashion drawings, portraits, monumental sculptures, record covers, and stamps. Her graphic work often features thick lines, sometimes executed as double contours. Dutch Heart Foundation postage stamp surcharge (1970) With a bleeding heart, the Heart Foundation manages to draw your attention in an unvarnished manner to the seriousness of public health problem number 1 (literally and figuratively) on postage stamps. The shock effect is further emphasized by the inscription “your heart . . . your life” (dating from 1970), which today would sound more direct, personal, and less formal as “your heart . . . your life”. The more or less fear-inducing stamp featuring several preliminary studies was contemptuously disqualified as udder stamps in a critical newspaper article due to its resemblance to the four udders of a cow. Red Cross stamps 1972 with Beatrix as supervisor (1972) Red Cross stamps 1972: illustrative series featuring numerous illustrations / tasks of Red Cross activities at home and abroad. Moreover, the images are simply stylized without much detail; without refinements or shading. The clustering of a number of images in a circle on these Red Cross stamps has two advantages (provides a view of Red Cross activities and worldwide deployment + operations through a 'window') and one disadvantage (part of the images being too small). * 5 cent: The rate of the series, which was initially to consist of four stamps, was increased by 5 cents on September 1. As a result of this increase, the most common postage rates of the issue put out on August 15 would become unsaleable for fourteen days. The issuance of a 5-cent auxiliary stamp without surcharge proved capable of solving the problem. * 20 cent: [1] wheelchair, [2] doctors communicating, [3] highway ambulance with helpers carrying away an injured person on a stretcher (the bottom of both shoes is visible). * 25 cent: [1] nurse, [2] blood transfusion service, [3] sign pointing to an aid station, [4] ambulance, [5] mother with two children from Third World (refugees). * 30 cent: [1] child's hand, [2] ambulance, [3] waiting refugee couple with child, [4] nurse, [5] ? ? ?. * 45 cent: [1] Beatrix with all-seeing eyes as supervisor, [2] nurse carrying child, [3] girl (with cup) and boy, [4] inhabitant of Africa, [5] child drinking from koi. Depending on the wind, Queen Beatrix wears her headgear on her left or right head. See 45 cent stamp top left. Applying a stamp impression to the Red Cross stamp as a 'pessimist' is particularly difficult to do legibly. Very little of the impression is visible on both stamps. Tennis stamp (1974) This stamp was issued on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the Royal Dutch Lawn Tennis Association (KNLTB). * The moment the tennis ball is tossed for the serve is depicted. The interplay of lines present in the ball and the fingers is given full emphasis. * The white space behind/above the image suggests the space above the net over which the tennis ball will be hit in a 'straight line' and/or 'arc-line' towards the opponent's court. * The fragmented presence of the tennis racket in the preliminary design is packed and considerably less minimalist than the final design. 75 years of korfball in the Netherlands (1978) Graphic designer Marte Röling depicts the quintessentially Dutch sport with the internationally known word 'korfbal' in bold lettering. The slanted placement of the typography represents the dynamic and lively character of the game, which takes place in one of the two sections. The other section, the empty one, where the game is momentarily not taking place, is literally depicted by the white space. The four preliminary designs are recognizable and executed true to reality, in contrast to the approved design of the abstract-typographic stamp. Queen Beatrix 50 years (unapproved preliminary drafts) 1988 On the occasion of Queen Beatrix turning 50, Marte Röling was also asked in 1987 to design a stamp for the event. In a particularly original manner, the designer created two festive stamp designs that refer to the maximaphily (a permanent Queen's stamp to be affixed to the congratulatory card, featuring a special postmark with the text 'Beatrix 50 years'). <img Op de postzegels staan handgeschreven teksten: * 41/1/38 – 31/1/88 Hare Majesteit Koningin Beatrix der Nederlanden. Hartelijk gefeliciteerd. * Aan Hare Majesteit Koningin Beatrix der Nederlanden. 31/1/87. Van harte gefeliciteerd! De 50-jarige jubileumpostzegel-emissie voor Beatrix is door Jan Bons ontworpen met de titel ‘Moderne kunst Cobra-beweging’(nvph 1408/10). 40 years of NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) 1989 Forty years of NATO entails, among other things, regular consultations between a range of countries. Some of these countries have fought each other in wars over the centuries, but for the past 40 years, they have been working together. In a gracefully swirling pennant, the national flags of the NATO member countries are not only symbolically linked, but also represent cooperation. The elegant pennant on a white background, resting on a white envelope, floats festively in space, as it were. 200 years of the Mounted Artillery Corps (1993) At the proposal of Prince William V (1748–1806), the States General agreed in 1793 to the establishment of the Mounted Artillery Corps, allowing the artillery to be made faster and more mobile. The nickname 'Gele Rijder' (Yellow Rider) is due to the distinctive uniform jacket, which was introduced in 1842 as a modern and popular display of presence, featuring the striking color yellow. 1) The Yellow Rider on horseback of the Mounted Artillery Corps in the dunes of Scheveningen is flanked on the left and right by fellow riders in the painting 'Yellow Riders' by painter Breitner (1859 – 1923). 2) The 3rd person on horseback (left) is the detail from the painting that may well have served as the starting point for the stamp by Marte Röling. 3) The plume of the rider's cap appears to continue onto the stamp above it. So, unexpectedly, a true visual continuation after all.