Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
It is known that Pierre Gandon produced a lot of stamps for the Vichy Government and was condemned as a collaborator after the war.
What I want to know is how did Gaston die in 1941 and could this have had any effect on Pierre's sentiments towards the Vichy of Allied powers.
Login to Like
this post
Wikipedia is not a lot of help here, its information coming from a single article in a stamp magazine.
Here is a post from another forum:
"Just going back to Gandon the letter that David Roseveare kindly passed me also had some rather touching information from Gandon anbout his engraver father, Gaston, who also produced many stamps but very few bearing his name. Gaston Gandon engraved the odd French stamp, notably the 1939 Strasbourg Cathedral issue but did most of his work, often anonymously for Belgium and the French colonies. Here is what Pierre Gandon says:
My father, Gaston Gandon, first started to engrave under Emile Cheffer.
My father was a simple, modest and very good man. He never exhibited his work and seldom signed his engravings. Due to this, many philatelists are still unaware of his work. He worked for a long time for a Belgian baron, M. Stalens who founded the Institute of Engraving in Paris. My father was the designer of the Institute’s finest stamps including those depicting Orval abbey, Cardinal Mercier, St Gudule Cathedral, a Cistercian monk and Duchess Mathilda for Belgium and many other stamps that I don’t possess. I know that he designed and engraved a great number of stamps for the Belgian Congo, Madagascar, Senegal, Ivory Coast, Niger, etc. My father died a few days after Hitler arrived in Paris. .........
Michael: your note casued me to look at the name Gaston Gandon becuse it was not on my list. Pierre Gandon's words that his father was a modest man is very true because his name is not mentioned in the Belgian Stamp scene or at least I have not come across it so far.
On **LINK** (use key words Insitute de gravure and choose the only result) you will see that the TBC-Cathedrals were designed and engraved at the Insitute de gravure, Paris and could be the work of Gaston Gandon.
On **LINK** (search key words Orval abbey) Choosing result#9, the designers of the Oravl Abbey are Henri Vaes -W.Kessels - Irène Van der Linden -Jean Remy and not Gaston Gandon.
We have to do more research on Gaston Gandon it looks like. The oldest Belgian engraver (born 1923) alive (when I spoke to him 2 years ago) did not remember the name Gaston Gandon which is another reason for me to miss him altogether.
David Roseveare perhaps has some more information on Gaston Gandon And you may perhaps ask him when hi back from his vacation in Paris."
http://www.stampmagazine.co.uk/forums/postings.asp?th=77549&p=42
You can follow the threads through on that website (I have looked only at the next page), but they deal with a lot else besides and it is quite possible that nothing further can be found.
Personal details of engravers are incredibly hard to come by, as I know to my cost (in hours of following up stuff on Google, Wikipedia, etc.). Stamp Collectors Forum have an extensive thread on engraved stamps, which you could search through.
Perhaps someone else will have better luck.
1 Member
likes this post.
Login to Like.
A Great article. Very interesting reading. Thank you Guthrum.
A shame it doesn't through much more light on the possible reasons for Gaston's death. The stamps that Pierre produced for the Vichy regime are excellent pieces of work and it makes you think he must have had some positive feeling about the regime but perhaps he was just very professional and didn't let his personal feelings interfere with his work.
Any further information would be gratefully received.
1 Member
likes this post.
Login to Like.
A lot of people at that time and place took the view that they had to make a living, and none of them knew of course that the Vichy regime would collapse when it did. The singers Maurice Chevalier and Charles Trenet and the film actress Arletty come to mind. Some survived better than others. I mentioned the Norwegian Harald Damsleth on another thread: it seems that those who designed stamps were particularly vulnerable, which is a reflection on how important people regarded the messages contained in their work.
1 Member
likes this post.
Login to Like.
05:33:32am
Gaston Gandon is the father of Pierre Gandon who designed the post war Marianne stamp. Gaston himself produced two stunning stamps. the 50F Airmail 1936 and the Strasboug Cathedral stamp of 1939. I believe he died in 1941.
It is known that Pierre Gandon produced a lot of stamps for the Vichy Government and was condemned as a collaborator after the war.
What I want to know is how did Gaston die in 1941 and could this have had any effect on Pierre's sentiments towards the Vichy of Allied powers.
Login to Like
this post
re: Stamp Designer Gaston Gandon
Wikipedia is not a lot of help here, its information coming from a single article in a stamp magazine.
Here is a post from another forum:
"Just going back to Gandon the letter that David Roseveare kindly passed me also had some rather touching information from Gandon anbout his engraver father, Gaston, who also produced many stamps but very few bearing his name. Gaston Gandon engraved the odd French stamp, notably the 1939 Strasbourg Cathedral issue but did most of his work, often anonymously for Belgium and the French colonies. Here is what Pierre Gandon says:
My father, Gaston Gandon, first started to engrave under Emile Cheffer.
My father was a simple, modest and very good man. He never exhibited his work and seldom signed his engravings. Due to this, many philatelists are still unaware of his work. He worked for a long time for a Belgian baron, M. Stalens who founded the Institute of Engraving in Paris. My father was the designer of the Institute’s finest stamps including those depicting Orval abbey, Cardinal Mercier, St Gudule Cathedral, a Cistercian monk and Duchess Mathilda for Belgium and many other stamps that I don’t possess. I know that he designed and engraved a great number of stamps for the Belgian Congo, Madagascar, Senegal, Ivory Coast, Niger, etc. My father died a few days after Hitler arrived in Paris. .........
Michael: your note casued me to look at the name Gaston Gandon becuse it was not on my list. Pierre Gandon's words that his father was a modest man is very true because his name is not mentioned in the Belgian Stamp scene or at least I have not come across it so far.
On **LINK** (use key words Insitute de gravure and choose the only result) you will see that the TBC-Cathedrals were designed and engraved at the Insitute de gravure, Paris and could be the work of Gaston Gandon.
On **LINK** (search key words Orval abbey) Choosing result#9, the designers of the Oravl Abbey are Henri Vaes -W.Kessels - Irène Van der Linden -Jean Remy and not Gaston Gandon.
We have to do more research on Gaston Gandon it looks like. The oldest Belgian engraver (born 1923) alive (when I spoke to him 2 years ago) did not remember the name Gaston Gandon which is another reason for me to miss him altogether.
David Roseveare perhaps has some more information on Gaston Gandon And you may perhaps ask him when hi back from his vacation in Paris."
http://www.stampmagazine.co.uk/forums/postings.asp?th=77549&p=42
You can follow the threads through on that website (I have looked only at the next page), but they deal with a lot else besides and it is quite possible that nothing further can be found.
Personal details of engravers are incredibly hard to come by, as I know to my cost (in hours of following up stuff on Google, Wikipedia, etc.). Stamp Collectors Forum have an extensive thread on engraved stamps, which you could search through.
Perhaps someone else will have better luck.
1 Member
likes this post.
Login to Like.
07:12:59am
re: Stamp Designer Gaston Gandon
A Great article. Very interesting reading. Thank you Guthrum.
A shame it doesn't through much more light on the possible reasons for Gaston's death. The stamps that Pierre produced for the Vichy regime are excellent pieces of work and it makes you think he must have had some positive feeling about the regime but perhaps he was just very professional and didn't let his personal feelings interfere with his work.
Any further information would be gratefully received.
1 Member
likes this post.
Login to Like.
re: Stamp Designer Gaston Gandon
A lot of people at that time and place took the view that they had to make a living, and none of them knew of course that the Vichy regime would collapse when it did. The singers Maurice Chevalier and Charles Trenet and the film actress Arletty come to mind. Some survived better than others. I mentioned the Norwegian Harald Damsleth on another thread: it seems that those who designed stamps were particularly vulnerable, which is a reflection on how important people regarded the messages contained in their work.
1 Member
likes this post.
Login to Like.