Czechoslovakia, 1919
Alphonse Mucha (1860-1939)
Postage stamps mounted on collector?s album page
George S. Champlin Memorial Stamp Collection

Alphonse Mucha?s art helped define the national identity of the newly independent Czechoslovakia after World War I. He designed the nation’s first postage stamps, currency, and government documents. Mucha?s style is synonymous with Art Nouveau, a movement that represented  progress and prosperity. For this stamp, Mucha chose a view of St. Vitus Cathedral and Hrad?any Castle in Prague, which he believed embodied both the past and future of his homeland.