Nude Descending a Staircase, No. 2 - Marcel Duchamp

Marcel Duchamp, an important forerunner of the Pop art and conceptual art movements, outraged and disturbed many viewers by irreverently flouting artistic convention. His oil-on-canvas painting, Nude Descending a Staircase, No. 2 (1912), was the most talked-about work at the Armory Show of 1913.

On March 7, 2013, in New York, New York, the Postal Service™ will issue Modern Art in America 1913-1931 commemorative First-Class Mail® stamps (Forever® priced at 46 cents) in 12 designs in a pressure-sensitive adhesive (PSA) pane of 12 stamps. The stamps will go on sale nationwide March 7, 2013.

In celebration of the triumph of modern art in America, the U.S. Postal Service commemorates 12 important modern artists and their works, 100 years after the groundbreaking Armory Show opened in New York in 1913.

The masterpieces reproduced in the stamp art were created between 1912 and 1931.

The stamp sheet also includes a quote by Marcel Duchamp and verso text that identifies each work of art and briefly tells something about each artist. Art director Derry Noyes worked on the stamp sheet with designer Margaret Bauer.