Kupka Retrospective at Grand Palais Challenges Abstraction Pioneer Myth

A significant retrospective dedicated to František Kupka will take place at the Grand Palais in Paris from March 21 to July 30, 2018. This exhibition highlights the Czech artist, who relocated to Paris in 1897, as an early innovator of abstraction, often overlooked in favor of Malevich, Mondrian, and Kandinsky. The last comprehensive showcase of Kupka's work occurred in 1989 at the Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris. The display charts his artistic journey from symbolist pieces like 'L'Âme de Lotus' to his initial abstract creations, including 'Amorpha, Fugue à deux couleurs.' Notable pieces featured are 'Grand nu. Plans par couleurs' (1909-10) and 'Disques de Newton' (1912), while also addressing the narrative of abstraction's origins and referencing Dorothy Kosinski's 1997-98 exhibition on Kupka's marginalization within the modernist movement.