Active in Paris, František Kupka developed a unique approach to abstraction influenced by his interests in music and spirituality. In this style of painting, known as Orphism, simultaneous color contrasts are equivalent to musical pitches. Kupka also painted abstract work as a means to visualize Theosophy—a synthesis of philosophy, religion, and science. The Cubist formal structure of this work, which brings together intersecting aspects of color, light, and mysticism, was inspired by the stained-glass windows of the Notre-Dame cathedrals in Paris and Chartres, France.
Date
Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.
Musée des Beaux–Arts de la Ville de Paris, Salon des Réalités Nouvelles exh. cat. (Musée des Beaux–Arts de la Ville de Paris, 1950), n.p., cat. 300 (as Réminiscence, 1913–1920).
Jan van der Mark, Selections from the Joseph Randall Shapiro Collection, exh. cat. (Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, 1969), n.p., cat. 39 (as Reminiscence of a Cathedral, 1913) (ill.).
Margit Rowell, Frantisek Kupka, 1971–1957: A Retrospective, exh. cat. (Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum , 1975), 246, cat. 143; 247 (ill.).
Margit Rowell, Frantisek Kupka, 1971–1957: A Retrospective, exh. cat. (Kunsthaus Zurich, 1976), 191, cat. 143, (ill.).
Katherine Kuh and Dennis Adrian, The Mr. & Mrs. Joseph Randall Shapiro Collection, exh. cat. (Chicago: The Art Institute of Chicago, 1985), 20, 71, fig. 61, cat. 79 (color ill.), 111, cat.79.
Brigette Leal, Markéta Theinhardt, adn Pierre Brullé, Kupka: Pionnier de l’abstraction, exh. cat. (Éditions de la Réunion des musées nationaux, 2018), 179, cat. 148 (color ill.); 289.
Paris, Galerie la Boëtie, Exposition des oeuvres de F. Kupka, Oct. 16– 31, 1924, cat. 18–21 (one of these four).
Musée des Beaux–Arts de la Ville de Paris, Salon des Réalités Nouvelles, June 10–July 15, 1950, cat. 300 (as Réminiscence, 1913–1920).
New York, Rose Fried Gallery, Kupka, Feb. 23–Mar. 21, 1953, cat. 2 (as Reminiscence Cathedrale, 1913).
Chicago, Museum of Contemporary Art, Selections from the Joseph Randall Shapiro Collection, Dec. 20, 1969–Feb. 1, 1970 (as Reminiscence of a Cathedral, 1913).
New York, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Frantisek Kupka, 1871–1957: A Retrospective, Oct. 10–Dec. 7, 1975, cat. 143; Kunsthaus Zurich, Jan. 17–Mar. 14, 1976.
The Art Institute of Chicago, The Mr. & Mrs. Joseph Randall Shapiro Collection, Feb. 23–Apr. 14, 1985, cat. 79.
Paris, Galeries national du Grand Palais, Kupka: Pionneir de l’abstraction, Mar. 21–July 30, 2018, cat. 148; Prague, National Gallery, Wallenstein Palace, Sept. 7, 2018–Jan. 20, 2019; Helsinki, Anteneumin Museum, Finnish National Gallery, Feb. 22–May 19, 2019 (Paris and Prague only).
The artist; sold through Richard Feigen Gallery, Chicago to Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Randall Shapiro, about 1957–58 [Kunsthaus Zürich 1976; letter from Richard Feigen, Apr. 12, 2001, in curatorial file]; given to the Art Institute of Chicago, 1984.
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