Correos Espana Francisco de Goya La Maja Desnudes - 1930

CORREOS ESPANA in 1930 issued three First Day Cover stamps of La Maja Desnuda (The Naked Maja) by Francisco de Goya which he painted in 1800. They were part of a set marking the anniversary of the death of this Spanish artist, and are considered the world's first postage stamp with nudes. The three highest denominations – dark purple (1 peseta), gray-green (4 pesetas) and red-brown (10 pesetas), engraved by José Luis López Sánchez-Toda, represented one of the most famous and controversial of the artist's paintings. The size of the stamps were  47 × 34 mm, the paper was without watermarks, and they had line perforation 12½. The impression techniques used were litography  and chalcography.

At the time of the painting, Goya was called before the Inquisition to explain his portrait of La Maja Desnudes. They wanted to know why and for whom he had painted the 'obscene' picture. The consequence was that he wasn't allowed to paint for the court anymore. Although Goya retained his title and his income, he had to purchase a country villa and move there, and his work from hereon was done for himself and a select audience of friends. The villa became known as los Quinta del Sordo, the House of the Deaf Man, and it is conceivable the stress of situation in Madrid seriously affected his health. 

First Day Covers with Goya's La Maja Desnudes stamps are rare; moreover the maxim card like the one shown here is scarce. I have seen cachets with Goya's La Maja Desnudes, but usually with other stamps from Spain.

 

The cancellation postmark on the maxim card originated from Seville on 15 June 1930 during the Spanish American Exhibition (Exposición iberoamericana). Interestingly, the maxim card itself was printed in Weimar Germany; although it should be noted similar postcards were printed in Spain. 

The Ibero-American Exposition of 1929 was a world's fair held in Saville, Spain, from 9 May 1929 until 21 June 1930. Countries in attendance of the exposition included: Portugal, the United States, Brazil, Uruguay, Mexico, Peru, Argentina, Chile, the Republic of Colombia, Cuba, Venezuela, the Dominican Republic, Bolivia, Panama, El Salvador, Costa Rica, and Ecuador. It was organized to foster relations between Spanish speaking countries and Spain.

Some of Goya's  paintings and etchings were presented at the Exhibition in a special pavilion labelled "La Quinta de Goya" (the country-house of Goya). Two sets of stamps were used to cover the high costs of the Exhibition, and these were privately produced. The promoters presented a certain quantity to the Spanish Postal Authorities, who placed them on sale and allowed them to be used for three days (4 different cancels were used, between 15-17 June 1930), retaining the money obtained from the sale.  Between 1932 and 1969, using the original printing plates, the company Waterloo & Sons in London printed new issues, so that they cannot be distinguished from the original ones.