Ivan Dubasov (1897–1988) was a Russian Soviet artist and engraver, the Art Director of Goznak (1932-1971), an Honored Artist of the RSFSR (1959).
He was born on November 30, 1897 in the city of Odintsovo. He studied at the Imperial Stroganov School and received a First Degree Diploma and the title of a educated drawing artist.
In 1922, Dubasov took part in the competition for the best sketch of a postage stamp dedicated to the 5th Anniversary of the October Revolution and the formation of the RSFSR: he made two sketches, the first one featuring a stonecutter carving the text on a slab: RSFSR 1917-1922, and on the second sketch the artist presented an allegory of humanity greeting the revolution in the form of a nude human figure, to which he added a letter carrier's bag.
The majority of the jury selected the Ivan Dubasov's drawing under the motto RSFSR 1917-1922 as the best artwork. After that he was invited to work at Goznak as an engraver and then as a layout artist.
Ivan Dubasov participated in finalizing the sketch of the coat of arms of the USSR, which was finally approved by a signature of the Secretary of the CEC Alexander Enukidze on September 22, 1923. In the same years, the artist began to work on banknotes.
For nearly 40 years, Ivan Dubasov was the Art Director of Goznak. He designed more than 150 original postage stamps with diverse subjects. The last work by the artist are sketches for a new coat of arms of the city of Odintsovo (1980), where he spent his childhood and youth. The Odintsovo Historical and Local Lore Museum keeps in store graphic works by I. Dubasov in the amount of 21 items.
The postage stamp provides a portrait of Ivan Dubasov and the artist’s tools; the margins of the postage block feature an archival photo of the Goznak building, sketches of the Order of Lenin, coat of arms of the USSR, 3 ruble banknotes and an Ivan Dubasov’s facsimile.
In addition to the issue of the postal block, JSC Marka produced First Day Covers and a special cancel for Moscow.
Design Artist: S. Ulyanovsky.
Face value: 150 rubles.
Block size: 106×77 mm; stamp size in the block: 50×37 mm.
Quantity: 23 thousand blocks.
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