The critics once mocked his style, today his works are worth millions
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- He is often referred to as the first abstract painter and was one of the pioneers of this modern movement. Along with Alfons Mucha, he is probably the most well-known domestic artist in the world.
- He was born on September 23, 1871, in Opočno as the oldest of five children of a notary public. His father chose the craft of a saddler for him. And although he painted signboards and images of saints instead of making harnesses, he ultimately apprenticed in the craft. He spent his school years in Dobruška.
- Kupka's artistic talent was recognized by the factory owner Josef Archleb, who became his patron. His influence on Kupka's father also determined that young František began to study painting. After attending the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague, he was also accepted at the academy in Vienna.
- In addition to drawing, he was also interested in literature, astronomy, religion, and occultism (he earned extra money during his studies by being hired for spiritualist gatherings, as the sensitive young man with nervous disorders was a sought-after medium).
- In the mid-1890s, he went to Paris as a scholarship student, where he settled permanently and lived intermittently until his death. Initially, he made a living from illustrations or poster designs.
- When he exhibited his non-figurative paintings (Amphora, Two-Color Fugue, and Warm Chromatics) at the Autumn Salon in Paris in 1912, he received misunderstanding and mockery.
- During World War I, he became involved in organizing Czech legions and became acquainted with Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk at that time. He fought on the front, designed uniforms and flags for the legions, and painted posters that ridiculed the monarchy.
- Kupka initially devoted himself to realism, but through symbolism and Orphism (an artistic movement inspired by music), he became a pioneer of a completely new direction. He also developed into an unacknowledged king of caricature and illustration.
- The artist, with a tendency toward solitude, was fortunate to find a patron in the factory owner Jindřich Waldes, with whom he became friends. Kupka drew the famous company logo for him: a black-and-white girl with a patent on her eye, the famous symbol of the Koh-i-noor company.
- In the 1930s, while abstraction began to come into fashion, the painter began to suffer from psychological problems. He struggled with depression and lost his hearing. When the Nazis occupied France, he settled in the countryside.
- When socialist realism took flight in the former Czechoslovakia, the media referred to the bearer of the Order of the Legion of Honor as a failed charlatan. The domestic public could see Kupka's works for the first time ten years after his death (he died in Puteaux near Paris on June 24, 1957) and then at a major exhibition in 1998.
- In the Czech Republic, the largest transaction involving Kupka's paintings was the purchase realized by the National Gallery eight years ago. From the restituted Waldes collection, it selected the most significant paintings due to pre-emptive rights. They paid nearly 90 million crowns for seven canvases, with the two most valuable pieces costing 25 million each. In addition to the National Gallery, the Foundation of Jan and Meda Mládek also owns a large collection of paintings. Collector and patron Mládková installed Kupka's works in the Kampa Museum in Prague.
- Abroad, the most expensive Kupka work was sold in 1998 for almost 18 million crowns (in a New York auction of the composition Vertical Plans in Blue and Red).
- One of the painter's works also became the most expensive painting ever sold at a domestic auction. The work Élévation (Heights) IV., which was sold for 22.1 million crowns at today's auction in Prague at Žofín, is from the period of pure abstraction from 1938. It belongs to a series of oils that Kupka painted between 1935 and 1946.
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