Henri-Lucien Cheffer (30 December 1880, Paris – 3 May 1957) was a

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

painter, engraver and illustrator. Cheffer was chiefly known for his postage stamp designs, the first of which he designed in 1911. He also designed bank notes for

French Algeria French Algeria (french: Alger to 1839, then afterwards; unofficially , ar, الجزائر المستعمرة), also known as Colonial Algeria, was the period of French colonisation of Algeria. French rule in the region began in 1830 with the ...

, Tunisia, the Netherlands and the

Dutch East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies ( nl, Nederlands(ch)-Indië; ), was a Dutch colony consisting of what is now Indonesia. It was formed from the nationalised trading posts of the Dutch East India Company, which ...

Early life

Cheffer was born in 1880 in Paris. He studied at the School of Decorative Arts, Paris, and in the studio of

Léon Bonnat Léon Joseph Florentin Bonnat (20 June 1833 – 8 September 1922) was a French painter, Grand Officer of the Légion d'honneur and professor at the Ecole des Beaux Arts. Early life Bonnat was born in Bayonne, but from 1846 to 1853 he lived in Ma ...

Awards

He received the second prize for engraving in the Grand Prix de Rome in 1904 and 1906. At the annual exhibition ''Salon des Artistes Français'', he received an honourable mention in 1902, a medal in 1919 and a medal of honour in 1927.

Work

Paintings

Cheffer was a member of the Société des Artistes Français, where he exhibited exclusively. During the First World War, Cheffer produced many watercolors depicting scenes of battle and destruction.

Postage stamp designs

Cheffer was responsible for 384 stamp designs, 52 of which were for France. His first stamp design, in 1911, was for Iran. In 1940, Cheffer was invited by the French government to design a joint Anglo-French stamp. In 1955, he designed a set of stamps depicting Monaco's Prince Rainier III. Cheffer's series of French postage stamps, known as the ''Marianne de Cheffer'' series, was in circulation from 1967 to 1971.

Collections

* US National Library of Medicine * Library of Congress, Washington * Wellcome Collection, London * Imperial War Museums, London * Louvre museum, Paris *

Museum of Fine Arts Boston The Museum of Fine Arts (often abbreviated as MFA Boston or MFA) is an art museum in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the 20th-largest art museum in the world, measured by public gallery area. It contains 8,161 paintings and more than 450,000 works ...

References

1880 births 1957 deaths French currency designers French illustrators French printmakers Prix de Rome for engraving French stamp designers 20th-century French painters 20th-century French male artists Painters from Paris {{France-artist-stub