Frantisek Kupka (1871-1957), Naked Woman in the Interior

Graphic, limited edition of 125 pieces, on Fabriano Privilege paper
Dimensions: 50 x 70 cm (full sheet)
Each print is individually numbered.
Inscription in pencil l.d.: 60/350, p.d.: facsimile of "Kupka".
Publisher's CMOA (Carnegie Museum of Art) dry stamp at bottom,
on the reverse of the hologram.
Condition: very good

Frantisek Kupka (1871-1957).
In 1887 František Kupka began his artistic training at the Prague academy under Frantisek Sequens, who was strongly influenced by the Nazarene school. In 1891 the artist moved to the academy in Vienna, where he worked under Professor Eisenmenger until 1893.
In 1894 Kupka traveled to London and Scandinavia before settling in Paris in 1895. Like Lyonel Feininger and Marcel Duchamp, František Kupka began as a caricaturist and illustrator. He created fashion designs, poster sketches, illustrations for books and various satirical magazines.
In 1905 Kupka moved to the suburb of Puteaux, where he met Jacques Villon, who introduced him to a circle of painters in 1910-11, including Marcel Duchamp, Robert Delaunay, Fernand Léger, Francis Picabia and others. They discussed the problems of form encountered by Cubism and Futurism and the relationship between painting and music.
Kupka's work underwent a decisive development: he was the first artist in France to move from Jugendstil to abstraction. His acceptance of ornament as an independent element of Jugendstil led him to finally abandon natural form.
The group centered around Villon, which called itself the "Section d'Or," had its first exhibition at the Paris Autumn Salon in 1912. František Kupka exhibited his abstract paintings there, which are associated with Orphism because of their proximity to music. In 1914, he volunteered for service at the front on the Somme.
In 1918 František Kupka accepted a position as a guest professor in Prague, and in 1931 he founded the "Abstraction-Création" group with Hans Arp, Jean Hélion, August Herbin, Georges Valmier and Georges Vantongerloo, becoming a member of the group's board of directors. This time was also marked by important exhibitions at the "Jeu de Paume" museum in Paris.
František Kupka spent World War II in Beaugency, returning to Puteaux immediately after liberation. In 1946, on the occasion of the artist's 75th birthday, the first major retrospective of the artist was shown in Prague. In 1955 Kupka participated in "documenta I" in Kassel.
František Kupka died in Puteaux on July 21, 1957. A year later, the "Musée d'Art Moderne" in Paris held a large-scale retrospective that dedicated an entire room to František Kupka.