LOT Old Heritage Auctions  /  2008 May Signature Fine Arts Auction #5004  / 

33030

FRANTISEK KUPKA Polaire, 1919-21 Gouache and

Currency:USD Category:Art Start Price:30,000.00 USD Estimated At:40,000.00 - 60,000.00 USD
FRANTISEK KUPKA Polaire, 1919-21 Gouache and
PROPERTY OF MRS. RUTH CARTER-STEVENSON<B><BR>FRANTIÅ EK KUPKA (Czech, 1871-1957)</B></I><BR><I>Polaire</B></I>, 1919-21<BR>Gouache and watercolor over a preliminary drawing in black chalk<BR>12-3/4 x 11-1/8 inches (32.4 x 28.3 cm)<BR>Signed in pencil lower left: <I>Kupka</B></I><BR> <BR>PROVENANCE:<BR>Royal S. Marks Gallery, New York, stock no. 254 (label verso).<BR><BR>EXHIBITED:<BR>Galerie Karl Flinker, Paris, May-June 1960;<BR>Galerie Charles Lienhard, Zurich, March 1961;<BR>Gallery Royal S. Marks, New York, 1961.<BR><BR>LITERATURE:<BR>L. Vachtova, <I>Frank Kupka. Pioneer of Abstract Art</B></I>, New York and Toronto, 1968, p. 207, illus. black and white, cat. no. 266, p. 310. <BR><BR>This dynamic painting in gouache relates closely to a series of larger-scale oil paintings entitled <I>Cosmic Spring</B></I> (National Gallery, Prague) which were breakthrough works in Kupka's career as a pioneering abstractionist. In this work and others dating from the mid-1910s through the early 1920s, the Czech modernist became dazzled by the phenomenon of nature's energy. By the mid-1920s, this interest shifted from nature's energy into an intense exploration of the energy generated by machines.<B>Condition Report:</B> Pin holes in four corners, paper is mounted along the perimeter only to a second piece of paper which is mounted to a cardboard backing, some minor losses in the white gouache only, otherwise good condition. <BR><BR><b>Shipping:</b> Requires 3rd Party Shipping (<a target="_blank" href="http://www.heritageauctions.com/common/shipping.php">view shipping information</a>)
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