EASTER 2009
Date of issue: 24 February 2009.
With the Easter holiday approaching, true to its traditions Magyar Posta is issuing a postage stamp.
The new stamp offered as a festive decoration to adorn cards and
letters in 2009 is based on a work by the painter Zoltán Réti entitled
Shepherd’s Cross. In the middle of the composition in the distance there
is a shepherd in a black hat surrounded by white lambs, the harbingers
of spring and renascence. In the foreground life-giving ears of wheat
can be seen beneath the blue sky. The painting is also a portrayal of
Christ crucified. The first day cover for the stamp features the
painting “Outdoor Mass” by the same artist. The design of the special
postmark employs a detail of the painting on the cover, the stylised
Christ crucified in front of the church. Zoltán Réti (1923) was born in Nagyoroszi, then lived in
Érsekvadkert and, from the age of 10, in Balassagyarmat. He graduated as
a teacher and cantor from the Teacher Training College in Miskolc in
1942. He was taken prisoner during military service and an adventurous
journey took him from the North Sea to Bavaria, where he made a living
as a portrait painter and church organist. After he returned to Hungary
in 1946, he taught in Patvarc, where he was the cantor and choir master.
In 1953 he obtained a degree as a music teacher in Budapest. He founded
a music school in Balassagyarmat, where he was the director and a
teacher for twenty years. For several decades he taught at the Bajcsy
Primary School, the Balassi Bálint Secondary School, the Teacher
Training College and the Szántó Kovács János Secondary School.
He
did not abandon his studies in the fine arts, which were interrupted by
World War II, and completed his studies at the Hungarian College of Fine
Arts in 1969. Although he works in oils and graphics, his preferred
medium is watercolours, and his favoured subjects are landscapes and
famous sons of Nógrád county (the writers and poets Madách, Mikszáth,
Balassi, Komjáthy) as well as portraying the Bible.
He has won
numerous awards and distinctions: the Apáczai Csere János Award, the
Madách Award, the Gold Cross of Merit of the Republic of Hungary and the
Szabolcsi Bence Award. He is an honorary citizen of Nógrád county,
Nagyoroszi, Balassagyarmat and Érsekvadkert. (Source:
www.agt.bme.hu/balassi/retiportre.html)
Order number: 2009011010031 (stamp) / 2009011060032 (FDC)
Date of issue: 24 February 2009.
Printed by Pénzjegynyomda
Designed by Péter Nagy
Photograph by József Hajdú
Perforated size of stamp: 30 x 40 mm (50 stamps/sheet)
Number of copies to be printed dependent on demand.
More information: philately@posta.hu
