Philately Fridays: USA Olympics, 1983

Well, my pacing for this week worked out pretty nicely, If you've been paying attention, we've been moving through the art of the Olympics, one event every day in chronological order. This means we're up to 1984 today and it just so happens that I've got a great stash of Olympic stamps to share today. I really love this series of watercolor illustrations the US postal service released in 1983, in anticipation of the '84 games. They went above and beyond the call of duty with a HUGE set of different stamps, postcards, and envelopes. What I'm showing here is just a taste of the entire series. Does anyone know who the artist is here?

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Bob Peak

You might not know his name, but have seen his work dozens of time. Bob Peak (1927 - 1992) was the master illustrator and watercolor artist behind iconic posters for movies such as Apocalypse Now, The Dark Crystal, and Superman: The Movie. His imagination and technical skill put him at the top of his game for a long time. Expect to see much more of his work here in the near future. I'll kick it off with two pieces I scanned in from a 1979 magazine feature.

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Cover art for TWA Airlines' "Getaway" brochure.


Poster art for 1974 film "Mame."

To read more about Bob Peak and order prints of his work, visit bobpeak.com