Renoir in Guernsey

In 1883 Renoir visited Guernsey in the Channel Islands and in 1993 the Post Office issued a set of stamps to commemorate the centenary of his month-long stay.  These are just two of the set of five.

This is a post for Sunday Stamps, now hosted by Violet Sky at "See it on a Postcard!"

Herm Island

It seems fairly unlikely you'd need a map of Herm because it's only a mile and a half long (2.4 km).  It's one of the Channel Islands, close to Guernsey and to Sark, almost between the two.   Like Sark, cars are banned on the island but so too are bicycles.  It doesn't seem much of a hardship when you consider its size.

Guernsey in pictures and stamps

These stamp postcards represent a series of stamps issued by the Royal Mail to commemorate the centenary of Renoir's visit to Guernsey for about a month during the summer of 1883.  During that relatively short time he produced 15 pictures.

Apart from the children at the seashore, they aren't particularly a style that I associate with Renoir. My experience is of course very limited but I did visit the Orangerie in Paris one magical summer's day and I can remember being completely taken aback by Renoir's paintings there, especially "Young girls at the piano".  It entirely reinforced my opinion that there is nothing whatever that can substitute for seeing original art.

This is a post for Sunday Stamps, now hosted by Violet Sky at "See it on a Postcard!"

Sark, Channel Islands

Postmarked Guernsey Post Office, dated 19 September 1979.

Grande Greve, Sark.  The sea pinks seen in our picture growing on rocky coast are one of many lovely species of wild flowers which thrive on Sark. The beach at Grande Greve shown in our picture lying 300 feet below, is reached by a steep and winding footpath.

The smallest of the Channel Islands, Sark, has just had an election for the first time.  It is the last territory in Europe to have abolished feudalism for democracy.  It has a population of 600 and an area of 2 square miles (5.5 sq km).  The only motorised vehicles allowed on the island are tractors.

From Wikipedia:

In August 1990 an unemployed French nuclear physicist named André Gardes attempted a singlehanded invasion of Sark, armed with a semi-automatic weapon. The night Gardes arrived he put up signs declaring his intention to take over the island the following day at noon. He was arrested by the island's volunteer Constable, while sitting on a bench, changing the gun's magazine and waiting for noon to arrive.

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Bonne Nuit Bay, Jersey

Postmarked Jersey, Channel Islands, and dated 24 September 1974.

Bonne Nuit Bay, Jersey, C. I. The tiny fishing port that captured the heart of Victor Hugo, Bonne Nuit, situated on the island's north coast, is surrounded by hills over 400 feet high. The bay is now a haven for yachtsmen and lobster fishermen. J.178.

One of the stamps used was from almost a year earlier, commemorating the wedding of Princess Anne to Captain Mark Phillips.