Kupka's painting The Collapse of the Verticals sold for 22 million

Prague - The painting by František Kupka titled The Collapse of Verticals sold at today's auction in Prague for 22 million crowns. The starting price was one and a half million lower. It became the second most expensive artwork sold at auction in the Czech Republic. The auction record still belongs to another work by Kupka, the painting Élévation (Heights) IV., which sold in 2007 for 22.1 million crowns.
    Another painting by Kupka is also in the top ten most expensive sold works - the Abstract Composition from 1925 to 1930 sold for 13.4 million crowns two years ago.
    At that time, it was started at an unusually high price of 8.5 million crowns. Kupka's canvases were not sold for more than five million crowns in the Czech Republic at that time. The price of 13.4 million crowns was a record two years ago; after today, this item is in sixth place on the list.
    Kupka's work The Collapse of Verticals (En Dégradés /Verticales) is from 1935. The gallerist Louis Carré purchased it directly from the painter in Paris, and it was put up for the current auction by a private collector. The painting is part of the series Vertical and Diagonal Plans, it has been exhibited and published many times. All three mentioned works by František Kupka were sold in the Czech Republic by the company 1. Art Consulting Brno - Prague, the auction house that had the largest turnover in the Czech Republic last year - 184 million crowns.

Ranking of the 15 most expensive paintings sold at auctions in the Czech Republic since 1990 (prices are in crowns excluding the auction premium):
1. František Kupka: Élévation (Heights) IV, 22.1 mil., 2007
2. František Kupka: The Collapse of Verticals, 22 mil., 2009
3. Toyen: Sleeping, 20 mil., 2009
4. Oscar Kokoschka: London, Chelsea Reach, 19.5 mil., 2008
5. Josef Šíma: Leda with a Swan, 14.6 mil., 2008
6. František Kupka: Abstract Composition, 13.4 mil., 2007
7. Josef Čapek: Girl in Pink Dress, 12 mil., 2007
8. Georges Braque: Green Sink, 11.5 mil., 2008
9. Emil Filla: Girl with a Mandolin, 11 mil., 2008
10. Jindřich Štyrský: Landscape in Clouds, 10.25 mil., 2007
11. presumably the circle of Master of Třeboň Altarpiece: The Martyrdom of a Saint, 10.5 mil., 2009
12. Antonín Procházka: Daisies, 10.1 mil., 2008
13. Georges Braque: Fruit, Jug and Pipe, 9.8 mil., 2009
14. Josef Čapek: Foot Bath, 9.3 mil., 2006
15. Antonín Procházka: Bust of a Man, 9 mil., 2007