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

graphic artist A graphic designer is a practitioner who follows the discipline of graphic design, either within companies or organizations or independently. They are professionals in design and visual communication, with their primary focus on transforming l ...

. He was a pioneer and co-founder of the early phases of the abstract art movement and Orphic

Cubism Cubism is an early-20th-century avant-garde art movement which began in Paris. It revolutionized painting and the visual arts, and sparked artistic innovations in music, ballet, literature, and architecture. Cubist subjects are analyzed, broke ...

( 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 Bohemia ( ; ; ) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. In a narrow, geographic sense, it roughly encompasses the territories of present-day Czechia that fall within the Elbe River's drainage basin, but historic ...

) in

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

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

symbol A symbol is a mark, Sign (semiotics), sign, or word that indicates, signifies, or is understood as representing an idea, physical object, object, or wikt:relationship, relationship. Symbols allow people to go beyond what is known or seen by cr ...

ic 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 meaning with moral or political significance. Authors have used allegory throughou ...

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 religious movement established in the United States in the late 19th century. Founded primarily by the Russian Helena Blavatsky and based largely on her writings, it draws heavily from both older European philosophies such as Neop ...

and

Eastern philosophy Eastern philosophy (also called Asian philosophy or Oriental philosophy) includes the various philosophies that originated in East and South Asia, including Chinese philosophy, Japanese philosophy, Korean philosophy, and Vietnamese philoso ...

dates from this period. By spring 1894, Kupka had settled in Paris; there he attended the

Académie Julian The () was a private art school for painting and sculpture founded in Paris, France, in 1867 by French painter and teacher Rodolphe Julian (1839–1907). The school was active from 1868 through 1968. It remained famous for the number and qual ...

briefly and then studied with Jean-Pierre Laurens at the

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

World War I

Kupka served as a volunteer in the First World War, and is mentioned in ''La Main coupée'' by Blaise Cendrars. 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 An illustrator is an artist who specializes in enhancing writing or elucidating concepts by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text or idea. The illustration may be intended to clarify complicate ...

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 Puteaux () is a commune in the western suburbs of Paris, France. It is located in the heart of the Hauts-de-Seine department, from the centre of Paris. La Défense, Paris's business district hosting the tallest buildings in the metropolitan ...

, a suburb of Paris, and the same year exhibited for the first time at the Salon d'Automne. 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, published in 1909. In it, Marinetti expresses an artistic philosophy called Futurism, which rejected the ...

, published in 1909 in ''

Le Figaro () is a French daily morning newspaper founded in 1826. It was named after Figaro, a character in several plays by polymath Pierre Beaumarchais, Beaumarchais (1732–1799): ''Le Barbier de Séville'', ''The Guilty Mother, La Mère coupable'', ...

''. 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 ( Section d'Or). 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 A drawing room is a room in a house where visitors may be entertained, and an alternative name for a living room. The name i ...

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 ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

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 (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...

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

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 *Czech (surnam ...

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, he was widely known for his distinctly stylized ...

, 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, ...

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

, France.

Work

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

Robert Delaunay Robert Delaunay (; 12 April 1885 – 25 October 1941) was a French artist of the School of Paris movement; who, with his wife Sonia Delaunay and others, co-founded the Orphism (art), Orphism art movement, noted for its use of strong colours and g ...

). 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 () was an English polymath active as a mathematician, physicist, astronomer, alchemist, theologian, and author. Newton was a key figure in the Scientific Revolution and the Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment that followed ...

and

Hermann von Helmholtz Hermann Ludwig Ferdinand von Helmholtz (; ; 31 August 1821 – 8 September 1894; "von" since 1883) was a German physicist and physician who made significant contributions in several scientific fields, particularly hydrodynamic stability. The ...

. 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,

Venice, Italy Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are linked by 438 bridge ...

: * ''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 7,551,600 in an auction organized by

Sotheby's Sotheby's ( ) is a British-founded multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine art, 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 Eating, consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects as food, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slau ...

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 ''Thought-Forms: A Record of Clairvoyant Investigation'' is a Theosophy (Blavatskian), theosophical book compiled by Theosophical Society Adyar, Theosophical Society members Annie Besant, A. Besant and Charles Webster Leadbeater, C. W. Leadbeater ...

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 Naturism is a lifestyle of practicing non-sexual social nudity in private and in public; the word also refers to the cultural movement which advocates and defends that lifestyle. Both may alternatively be called nudism. Though the two terms ar ...

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.