Vladimír Suchánek
1933–2021 · Czech graphic artist and stamp designer
Vladimír Suchánek was a Czech graphic artist and postage stamp designer (1933–2021), born in Nové Město nad Metují. He was known above all for color lithography, a field in which he earned international recognition.
He studied at Charles University in Prague and then at the Prague Academy of Fine Arts, where he specialised in graphic arts under Vladimír Silovský until 1960. In 1977 he became a member of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts in Vienna.
In 1990 he helped revive the Hollar Association of Czech Graphic Artists, whose activities had been suspended since the 1970s. He chaired the association from 1995 for two decades and then served as its honorary chairman. In 2006 he received the Czech Medal of Merit, third grade.
He designed several stamps for the Czech Republic, including the 1997 stamp marking the 1000th anniversary of the death of St. Adalbert, also issued in Hungary, Germany, Poland and Vatican City. By 2008 he had held 146 one-man shows and taken part in almost 300 group exhibitions, including international graphic art biennials.