Mme Kupka among the Verticals
Frantisek Kupka was a Czech artist who lived from 1871-1957 and was originally trained as a saddle maker by a man who taught him about “spirituality and the cosmos”. This spurred his interest in the “relationship between religion, color, and geometry”, which I think can be seen in this painting. The exploration of religion shows the modernist concept of questioning the relationship of the complex self, and religious institutions. Modernism in literature moves away from a traditional plot line, which this painting almost does through the use of shape and color in a non traditional way through studying abstract art formally. “The result, like many of his important paintings and works on paper, plays between abstraction and portraiture. He would soon tip the balance toward total abstraction, becoming one of the earliest artists to do so.”
This was the first painting I noticed when I walked into the room, probably because of the very bright colors and large size of the work. I looked at it for a few seconds before noticing the face in the middle which I thought had a green beard, but when you look closely you can tell it is a woman’s face, which is another hallmark of modernism, it’s not easy to understand. There is also a repetitive quality to the painting, you can see the same or similar shapes throughout the whole piece, again reflecting repetition of words in modernist literature. The only question I had about the painting was, did the artist know that the woman’s face looks like it has a green beard? Maybe it’s something that only I see when I look at it, but she looks like a green Santa Claus to me. I struggle with the use of green and why only on the lower part of her face? I still think it’s beautiful, just odd i guess.
https://www.moma.org/artists/3302
Claire, I love this painting, and you’ve done a nice job of teasing out some of its modernist attributes! Your comments have me wondering about the green under the face. To me, it seems like it could be some kind of illumination or something that conveys something abstract (i.e. not a beard!). It also led me to the green shape on the lower left of the canvas; to me, this looks like a cat. Kupka is indeed poised between representation and abstraction here, so this is a great example of Modernism!