Commissions: Institutional :: The Art of Kadir Nelson

With this 25th stamp in the Literary Arts series, the U.S. Postal Service honors author Richard Wright (1909 - 1960). Best remembered for his controversial 1940 novel, Native Son, and 1945 autobiography, Black Boy, Wright drew on a wide range of literary traditions, including protest writing and detective fiction, to craft unflinching portrayals of racism in American society.

The stamp artwork by Kadir Nelson of San Diego, California, features a portrait of Richard Wright in front of snow-swept tenements on the South Side of Chicago, a scene that recalls the setting of Native Son. Nelson's portrait of Wright was based on a circa 1945 photograph.