František Kupka (23 September 1871 – 24 June 1957), also known as ''Frank Kupka'' or ''François Kupka,'' was a

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus' Places * Czech, ...

painter and graphic artist. He was a pioneer and co-founder of the early phases of the abstract art movement and Orphic Cubism ( Orphism). Kupka's abstract works arose from a base of realism, but later evolved into pure abstract art.Grove Art Online
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Biography

Education

František Kupka was born in Opočno (eastern Bohemia) in

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

in 1871. From 1889 to 1892, he studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague. At this time, he painted historical and patriotic themes. Kupka enrolled at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna, where he concentrated on symbolic and

allegorical As a literary device or artistic form, an allegory is a narrative or visual representation in which a character, place, or event can be interpreted to represent a hidden meaning with moral or political significance. Authors have used allegory t ...

subjects. He was influenced by the painter and social reformer Karl Wilhelm Diefenbach (1851–1913) and his naturistic life-style. Kupka exhibited at the Kunstverein, Vienna, in 1894. His involvement with

theosophy Theosophy is a religion established in the United States during the late 19th century. It was founded primarily by the Russian Helena Blavatsky and draws its teachings predominantly from Blavatsky's writings. Categorized by scholars of religion ...

and Eastern philosophy dates from this period. By spring 1894, Kupka had settled in Paris; there he attended the Académie Julian briefly and then studied with

Jean-Pierre Laurens Jean-Pierre Laurens (18 March 1875, Paris23 April 1932, Fontenay-aux-Roses) was a French painter; primarily of figures and portraits. Biography He was the youngest son of the painter, Jean-Paul Laurens. His older brother, Paul Albert Laurens ...

at the

École des Beaux-Arts École des Beaux-Arts (; ) refers to a number of influential art schools in France. The term is associated with the Beaux-Arts style in architecture and city planning that thrived in France and other countries during the late nineteenth centur ...

World War I

Kupka served as a volunteer in the First World War, and is mentioned in ''La Main coupée'' by

Blaise Cendrars Frédéric-Louis Sauser (1 September 1887 – 21 January 1961), better known as Blaise Cendrars, was a Swiss-born novelist and poet who became a naturalized French citizen in 1916. He was a writer of considerable influence in the European mo ...

. Cendrars describes him as a "proud soldier, calm, placid, strong", but really too old to be a soldier, being at least 25 years older than the rest. When the regiment set out from Paris for the front in Picardy (they marched all the way on foot) Mme Kupka met the column as they arrived at the La Défense roundabout, near where they lived. She marched with them, carrying her husband's bag and his rifle. She would have marched all the way to the front, but at the end of the first day the colonel had her arrested and sent back to Paris. She later made her way to the front lines to spend time with her husband. Kupka himself left the front due to frostbite in the foot, caused by nights in the trenches waist-deep in freezing water.

Career

Kupka worked as an illustrator of books and posters and, during his early years in Paris, became known for his satirical drawings for newspapers and magazines. In 1906, he settled in Puteaux, a suburb of Paris, and the same year exhibited for the first time at the

Salon d'Automne The Salon d'Automne (; en, Autumn Salon), or Société du Salon d'automne, is an art exhibition held annually in Paris, France. Since 2011, it is held on the Champs-Élysées, between the Grand Palais and the Petit Palais, in mid-October. The f ...

. Kupka was deeply impressed by the first

Futurist Manifesto The ''Manifesto of Futurism'' (Italian: ''Manifesto del Futurismo'') is a manifesto written by the Italian poet Filippo Tommaso Marinetti and published in 1909. Marinetti expresses an artistic philosophy called Futurism that was a rejection of th ...

, published in 1909 in ''

Le Figaro ''Le Figaro'' () is a French daily morning newspaper founded in 1826. It is headquartered on Boulevard Haussmann in the 9th arrondissement of Paris. The oldest national newspaper in France, ''Le Figaro'' is one of three French newspapers of r ...

''. Kupka's 1909 painting ''Piano Keyboard/Lake'' marked a break in his representational style. His work became increasingly abstract around 1910–11, reflecting his theories of motion, color, and the relationship between music and painting ( orphism). In 1911, he attended meetings of the

Puteaux Group The Section d'Or ("Golden Section"), also known as Groupe de Puteaux or Puteaux Group, was a collective of painters, sculptors, poets and critics associated with Cubism and Orphism. Based in the Parisian suburbs, the group held regular meetings ...

(

Section d'Or The Section d'Or ("Golden Section"), also known as Groupe de Puteaux or Puteaux Group, was a collective of Painting, painters, sculptors, poets and critics associated with Cubism and Orphism (art), Orphism. Based in the Parisian suburbs, the grou ...

). In 1912, he exhibited his ''Amorpha. Fugue à deux couleurs'', at the

Salon des Indépendants Salon may refer to: Common meanings * Beauty salon, a venue for cosmetic treatments * French term for a drawing room, an architectural space in a home * Salon (gathering), a meeting for learning or enjoyment Arts and entertainment * Salon (Pa ...

in the Cubist room, although he did not wish to be identified with any movement. ''Creation in the Plastic Arts'', a book Kupka completed in 1913, was published in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and List of cities in the Czech Republic, largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 milli ...

in 1923. In 1931, he was a founding member of Abstraction-Création. In 1936, his work was included in the exhibition ''Cubism and Abstract Art'' at the

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of ...

in New York City, and in an important show with another

painter,

Alphonse Mucha Alfons Maria Mucha (; 24 July 1860 – 14 July 1939), known internationally as Alphonse Mucha, was a Czech painter, illustrator and graphic artist, living in Paris during the Art Nouveau period, best known for his distinctly stylized and decorat ...

, at the

Jeu de Paume ''Jeu de paume'' (, ; originally spelled ; ), nowadays known as real tennis, (US) court tennis or (in France) ''courte paume'', is a ball-and-court game that originated in France. It was an indoor precursor of tennis played without racquets, a ...

in Paris. A retrospective of his work took place at the Galerie Mánes in Prague in 1946. The same year, Kupka participated in the Salon des Réalités Nouvelles, where he continued to exhibit regularly until his death. During the early 1950s, he gained general recognition and had several solo shows in New York. Between 1919 and 1938 Kupka was financially supported by his good friend, art collector and industrialist

Jindřich Waldes Jindřich Waldes (also Heinrich Waldes or Henry Waldes; 2 July 1876, Nemyšl – 1 July 1941, Havana) was a leading industrialist, founder of the Waldes Koh-i-noor Company, Czech patriot of Jewish origin and art collector. Life Karel Waldes, fa ...

who accumulated a substantial collection of his art. Kupka died in 1957 in Puteaux, France.

Work

Kupka had a strong interest in color theory and freeing colors from descriptive associations (which is thought to have possibly influenced other artists like

Robert Delaunay Robert Delaunay (12 April 1885 – 25 October 1941) was a French artist who, with his wife Sonia Delaunay and others, co-founded the Orphism art movement, noted for its use of strong colours and geometric shapes. His later works were more abstra ...

). Margit Rowell described his painting ''The Yellow Scale'' (c. 1907) as "Kupka's first attempt to come to terms with color theory in which the result is both personal and successful". Although a self-portrait, the subject of the painting was the color yellow. Around 1910 he began developing his own color wheels, adapting a format previously explored by Sir

Isaac Newton Sir Isaac Newton (25 December 1642 – 20 March 1726/27) was an English mathematician, physicist, astronomer, alchemist, theologian, and author (described in his time as a " natural philosopher"), widely recognised as one of the grea ...

and

Hermann von Helmholtz Hermann Ludwig Ferdinand von Helmholtz (31 August 1821 – 8 September 1894) was a German physicist and physician who made significant contributions in several scientific fields, particularly hydrodynamic stability. The Helmholtz Associatio ...

. This work in turn led Kupka to execute a series of paintings he called "Discs of Newton" (1911–12). * ''Planes by Colors'' * ''The Colored One'' * ''Reminiscence of a Cathedral'' * ''Blue Space'' Works in

Peggy Guggenheim Collection The Peggy Guggenheim Collection is an art museum on the Grand Canal in the Dorsoduro ''sestiere'' of Venice, Italy. It is one of the most visited attractions in Venice. The collection is housed in the , an 18th-century palace, which was the home ...

, Venice, Italy: * ''Study for Woman Picking Flowers (Femme cueillant des fleurs)'', ca 1910 * ''Study for Amorpha'', ''Warm Chromatics'', ''Chromatique chaude'' and for ''Fugue in Two Colors'' (Fugue a deux couleurs), ca 1911-1912 * ''Vertical Planes (Plans verticaux)'', 1911–1912 * ''Study for Organization of Graphic Motifs I (Localisations de mobiles graphiques I)'', ca 1911-12 * ''Around a point (Autour d'un point)'', ca 1920–1925 Other works include '' The Cathedral (Katedrála)''. In March 2021, Kupka's ''Le Jaillissement II'' sold for GBP 7,551,600 in an auction organized by

Sotheby's Sotheby's () is a British-founded American multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, an ...

, so far the highest price for his work.

Personal life

Kupka was a

vegetarian Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slaughter. Vegetariani ...

and took interest in

. He practiced as a spiritualist medium and was alleged to have experienced clairvoyant trances. He was a believer in thought-forms which influenced his artwork.Meecham, Pam; Sheldon, Julie. (2000). ''Modern Art: A Critical Introduction''. Routledge. p. 68. His theosophic visions inspired his painting Disks of Newton (Study for "Fugue in Two Colors").Rothstein, Mikael; Hammer, Olav. (2013). ''Handbook of the Theosophical Current''. Brill. pp. 437-438. He also practiced naturism.

Notes and references

* * Kupka, František. ''La Création dans Les Arts Plastiques.'' Paris, 1923; edited and translated E. Abrams, 1989. * * Kupka, František. ''La Création dans Les Arts Plastiques.'' Paris, 1923; edited and translated E. Abrams, 1989.