Ned M. Seidler

Born in New York and educated at the Art Students League and Pratt Institute in that city, Ned Seidler was a freelance illustrator of books, magazines, and advertising for 21 years before becoming a staff artist for National Geographic in 1967. After his retirement from the magazine in 1985, he returned to freelance work and created more than 30 U.S. postage stamp designs. A gifted painter of nature and historical subjects, his images have been exhibited at such prominent venues as the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.; the Brandywine River Museum in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania; and Grand Central Galleries in New York City. Mr. Seidler died on December 22, 2007.

Among Seidler’s numerous designs for the Postal Service are 20 Garden Flowers stamps issued 1993-1996 in four seasonal groupings, the four Fruit Berries stamps (1999), and the Apple and Orange stamps (2001). A number of his design concepts remain in the vault at the Postal Service awaiting possible selection as new stamps. The first of these designs to be issued are the four Holiday Evergreens stamps in 2010.