Kupka's painting Movement sold for a record 35.51 million

London/Prague - For a record price of 1.3 million pounds, or 35.51 million korunas, the painting "Movement" by František Kupka was sold yesterday in London. The work from the collection of the American couple Hascoe was purchased by an anonymous buyer over the phone during the auction of modern Czech art at Sotheby's. The auction raised a total of 11.1 million pounds (304 million korunas), which is more than double what the auction house estimated. Records were also broken today at Sotheby's for the paintings of Josef Čapek, Emil Filla, and Václav Špála.
      The price of 1.3 million pounds is without the auction premium. With this commission, which the buyer must pay, and customs, the price reaches £1,497,250 (40.9 million korunas).
      So far, the highest price paid abroad for a Kupka painting was for "Vertical Plans in Blue and Red" in New York in 1998, which amounted to 18 million korunas. The most expensive Czech work sold at auctions in the Czech Republic remains a canvas also by František Kupka - "Élévation (Heights) IV." It was sold three years ago for 22.1 million korunas without the auction premium.
      In the first auction of this kind outside Central Europe, the price for Josef Čapek's painting also climbed to a record price today. His canvas "Sailor and Fantomas" from 1917 to 1920 was auctioned without the premium for 470,000 pounds, or 12.838 million korunas (with the premium 565,250 pounds and 15.4 million korunas). The highest price for Čapek at auctions in the Czech Republic reached 12 million korunas in 2007 (Girl in Pink Dress).
      A record was also broken for Emil Filla. His painting "Sculptress in the Studio" was sold nearly five times the estimate, for 623,650 pounds (17.1 million korunas, the price, like those of the following paintings, includes the premium). Thus, the highest price for a Filla painting was surpassed, which had been "Girl with Mandolin" in 2008.
      According to Jan Skřivánek, editor-in-chief of Art & Antiques magazine, a record was also set with Václav Špála. His landscape "Storm near Otava" sold for 187,250 pounds (5.08 million korunas), which according to Skřivánek surpasses the highest price ever reached for Špála's paintings at auctions in the Czech Republic.
     Sotheby's estimated before the auction that the offered items would sell for a total of five million pounds. However, the total amount ultimately reached 11.1 million pounds.
      According to Jan Skřivánek, the auction exceeded expectations, but is unlikely to revive interest in Czech art abroad. "In the hall, it was visible that mostly Czech art dealers were bidding against each other, who probably were not buying for themselves and were likely representing some Czech collector. The buyers will overwhelmingly be from the Czech Republic," Skřivánek told ČTK.
      "On one hand, it is good when this art returns to the Czech Republic, on the other hand, for the recognition of Czech art abroad, it would be better if it remained in foreign collections and was more traded abroad," he added.
However, the British newspaper The Daily Telegraph today writes that the London auction was a milestone for modern Czech art and that prices for it soared at Sotheby's today.
      In addition to "Movement," other Kupka paintings were also sold for extraordinary prices in London today - "White Disc" for 690,850 pounds (18.9 million korunas), "Divertimento II" for 541,250 (14.8 million korunas), "Purple Plan" for 505,250 pounds (13.8 million korunas) and "Le Sourire I - From the Mechanical Cycle" was auctioned for 385,250 pounds (10.5 million korunas).
      A large majority of the 200 offered items found buyers, and a substantial portion sold for prices higher than the estimated value. "Still Life with Fruit" by Bohuslav Kubišta was sold for 397,250 pounds (10.8 million korunas) and Filla's "Still Life with Calendar" for 241,250 pounds (6.6 million korunas).
      The estimated prices also significantly exceeded the amounts for František Foltýn's paintings. His "Imperialism" was bought by a bidder on the phone for 433,250 pounds (11.8 million korunas) and "Dostoevsky" for 337,250 pounds (9.2 million korunas). The bronze "Sunbeam - Motorcyclist," created by Otakar Švec, sold for more than five times its estimated price for 139,250 pounds (3.8 million korunas). Likewise, the painting by Karel Černý sold for 163,250 pounds (4.5 million korunas), almost three times the estimated price.
      According to Skřivánek, representatives of Czech public collections did not participate in the auctions. However, Skřivánek believes there were only two paintings at the auction that would really belong in a museum - the key work "Imperialism" by Foltýn and Čapek's "Sailor and Fantomas." But he believes that Josef Čapek is relatively well represented in Czech public collections, so "the loss is not that great."
      Sotheby's already auctioned a collection of Czech origin collector Milan Heidenreich focused on Czech cubism back in 1997. The auction then raised half a million pounds (about 28 million korunas at that time). However, it was a smaller auction specialized in cubism.
      Norman Hascoe was an American engineer and successful businessman who, along with his wife Suzanne, began collecting Czech art in the early 1990s. He died in 2007. His wife passed away last year, and their collection, which includes additional thematic areas, is gradually coming to the market.
     Kupka's work was, according to some experts, overlooked in the past compared to the work of Vasily Kandinsky, for example. However, in recent years, it has also started to gain recognition among Parisian and British collectors. "Kupka was underrated mainly because he did not make a significant breakthrough in the Parisian art scene at his time. However, this does not diminish his importance for global avant-garde painting," said Jiří Machalický, curator of the Kampa Museum, which has one of the largest collections of Kupka's works.
      A new trend in the perception of his works was already foreshadowed a few years ago by the exhibition "Origins of Abstract Art" in Paris. Kupka's "Two-Color Fugue" was even chosen as the main motif for all the promotional materials for the exhibition. "Each of the authors, whether Piet Mondrian, Kandinsky, or Kupka, approached the avant-garde in their own way. The work of this Czech native stands out among them as the most complex and, in my opinion, the most interesting," added Machalický.
      "In the past, we have witnessed several very successful auctions of Czech works. Some bubbles 'burst,' but that does not relate to Kupka. On the contrary. His star will likely continue to rise ever higher," predicts Machalický.
      Among the best-selling works by Czech authors abroad, besides Kupka, are long-standing figures such as Toyen, Jindřich Štyrský, and Emil Filla.