Czech–Slovakia Joint issue: Karel Plicka (1894-1987)

Czech Post and Slovakia Post has joint issued stamp with theme of the personality and work of the artist of comprehensive gifts and activities K. Plicka (1894-1987).

Karel Plicka is a part of the culture of two - Czech and Slovak - nations. A distinguished photographer and film maker, he was active also in music and singing. His broad artistic activities in ethnography together with his sensitivity of an artist and musician enabled him to record both in notation and on photographs and film tapes the disappearing world of folk traditions, tales, songs and way of life.

He was also a significant teacher. He was first engaged as a teacher at the School of Crafts in Bratislava, later as a professor and the first dean of a newly established Film Academy of the Academy of Arts in Prague.

Plicka graduated in 1913 from the Teacher School in Hradec Králové, in 1928 from Komenský University in Bratislava in music science, ethnography and art history.

In 1924-38 he collected Slovak folk songs and documented folk cultural for the ethnographic department of the Slovak ethnographic institute Matice slovenská. He recorded about 40,000 songs from Slovakia, Bohemia and Moravia, published in 1961 in the collections Czech Song Book and Slovak Song Book. He set up the archives of documentary and ethnographic photographs of the Matice slovenská.

In 1937-39 he set up and headed the first film vocational centre of the School of Crafts in Bratislava. During World War II he worked in Prague where he published the book Prague on K. Plicka's Photographs.

From the 50s he worked exclusively as a photographer (books of photographs Prague Castle, The Vltava River, Homeland The Beautiful, Levoca, etc.). A famous photographer, Plicka was highly appreciated both locally and internationally for his film documentaries (he won the Venezia Cup for his music poem Singing Country in 1934).

The World Stamp Exhibition PRAGA 2008- Charles Bridge - 650 years

This stamp designed by Czech Post for promote the World Stamp Exhibition PRAGA 2008 which is to be held on September 12-14, 2008 at the Prague-Holešovice Exhibition Grounds.The miniature sheet and the postage stamp commemorate the 650th anniversary of the beginning of construction of this gothic jewel.The sheet issued on June 20, 2007.

Charles Bridge is the oldest bridge in Prague. It belongs to the most beautiful bridges in the world. Originally it was called the Stone Bridge, later Prague Bridge. In 1870 it was renamed Charles Bridge. It is located in the place of the original Romanesque Juditin Bridge, destroyed by the 1342 floods. The base stone of the new bridge was laid by the Emperor Charles IV on 9.7.1357 at 5:31 a.m., which was the best time according to astrologers. The construction was committed to Petr Parlér and his works. The bridge, almost 520 m long, up to 10 m wide and based on 16 arches, was finished in 1402. At that time it belonged to the largest ones in Europe. It is made of sandstone blocks and protected by towers erected on both its ends.

The Old Town Bridge Tower is considered as one of the most beautiful gothic buildings. The bridge is the gallery of 30 mostly baroque sculptures made, inter alia, by M. B. Braun and F. M. Brokoff. The sandstone original sculptures have gradually been replaced with replicas. Until the 20th century Charles Bridge was used as a major way of communication. From 1965 it has been used by pedestrians only and is one of the most attractive Prague sights.

Blogger Tags: Charles Bridge, Praga 2008, Czech

The World Stamp Exhibition PRAGA 2008- Lesser Town - 750 years

This stamp was issued on March 2007 for promoting the World Stamp Exhibition PRAGA 2008 which is to be held on September 12-14, 2008 at the Prague-Holešovice Exhibition Grounds.The postage stamp commemorating the 750th anniversary of foundation of the Lesser Town features a detail of Langweil's model of Prague, a unique work of art, document and rarity. The model was created in 1826-1837 by Antonín Langweil .

The model detailed with a maximum accuracy the colours of face walls, house signs, inscriptions and numbers as well as different types of roofs. One can see piles of wood, small walls and ladders on the back yards. The model sized 5.76 m by 3.24 m is displayed in the Museum of the City of Prague.

The detail on the postage stamp features the Lesser Town Square with the former town hall, Smirický Palace and Sternberg Houses on the northern side of the square, St Nicholas' Church, the former Jesuit college and the neighbouring blocks of houses.

The Prague preservation area of Lesser Town is one of the most attractive highlights of Prague. The King Premysl Otakar II founded the so-called New Town below Prague Castle, called from the early 14th century the Lesser Town of Prague, in the outer castle settlement in the area of today's Lesser Town Square. The Emperor Charles IV substantially extended the settlement by including the neighbouring settlements and erecting new walls (the so-called Hungry Wall).

The today's shape of the Lesser Town comes mainly from the 17th and 18th century, the time of construction of pompous baroque palaces, churches and monasteries. In 1784 the Lesser Town lost its status of an independent town and became one of the districts of the united Prague.

Blogger Tags: Lesser Town, Praga 2008, Czech

Joint issue Czech- Belgium: Stoclet House in Brussels

“the postage stamp with the exterior features a detail of the tower ending with a dome and four figures.”

The theme of the common Czech-Belgian issue is Stoclet Palace in Brussels designed by the Czech native Josef Hoffmann (1870-1956). Stoclet Palace, built in 1905-1911, is considered as his supreme work of architecture. 

The two postage stamps, which issued with the same graphic design both in the Czech Republic and in Belgium, feature the exterior and the interior of the palace on March 26, 2007.

Josef Hoffmann was born in Brtnice na Morave, studied in Jihlava and Brno and continued his studies at the Viennese Academy. For four decades he was a professor of architecture at the Industrial Art College in Vienna. He became the best-selling architect and a co-founder of the artists' association Secession.He designed numerous private villas and palaces.Hoffmann launched a huge amount of designs of diverse equipment and accessories.

“the postage stamp with the interior features Hoffmann's drawing of the hall of Stoclet Palace dated 1905-6”

Stoclet Palace was therefore designed and built according to a uniform design covering both the construction and furnishing aspects. The palace has numerous Art Nouveau elements which are however combined in a so-phisticated way with direct lines of the classical style.

The author of decorations for the framing elements in the dining room is Gustav Klimt. The palace is set in a large garden designed in a corresponding style.

J. Hoffmann is also the author of several buildings in the territory of the Czech Republic.

The World Exhibition of Postage Stamps PRAGA 2008 - Giovanni Castrucci: A View of Prague Castle

This stamp was issued on September 13, 2006 to promote the World Exhibition of Postage Stamps PRAGA 2008 which held in September 2008 at the Exhibition Grounds in Prague - Holešovice.

The Florentine mosaic featured on the postage stamp is the property of the Museum of Applied Arts in Prague.The Florentine mosaic is composed of precisely cut gems so that no or almost no gaps can be seen between the gems. The colour and drawing of the stone is used to achieve the artistic effect. This technique was invented in Florence and was always considered as an exclusively Italian matter. In the 17th and 18th centuries it was much popular as a decoration of cabinets, boxes and furniture in general. The great collector and patron of arts Rudolf II invited to Prague the mosaic makers and gem cutters Cosim and Giovanni Castrucci who founded a prosperous workshop in Prague. Their work represents an interesting, independent version of the Florentine mosaic.

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