Mezieres, illustration for stamps, 2003

Original illustration for a sheet of stamps for TAAF, French Southern and Antarctic Lands (French Antarctica).

French explorers sailed south dreaming of finding rich new lands to colonize. What would have classical paintings on the topic looked like, had the places they found been less hostile and more like they had hoped?

I saw Jean-Claude Mezieres working on this drawing when I visited his studio in the summer of 2002. Fifteen years later I asked him if I could buy the piece as a wedding gift for my wife-to-be. And he sent it as a gift for both of us, saying I owed him a bottle of something nice when we next met! Who could ask for a better deal than that.

My wife is a clothing designer, so this piece matched our union perfectly: referencing history of fashion, art collecting, and portraits of couples.