Frantisek Kupka * (Opocno,Böhmen,1871-1957 Pu... Lot n° 30

(Opocno, Böhmen,1871–1957 Puteaux) L’ Allemagne est vaincue, 1919 – 1920, signed Kupka, gouache, watercolour on paper, 29.5 x 23.5 cm, framed This work is accompanied by a photo certificate of Pierre Brullé, Paris. Provenance: European Private Collection This is an exceptional work in that it is a political history statement: The emblematic place de la Concorde is full of life and hope with the cars bustling along, the fountains running, the beautiful classical facades sunlit an the proud obelisk standing: Old Paris is alive again. This scene of rebirth is shown through a window symbolizing a new birth: that of the Czechoslovak Republic with its new flag. One can imagine the importance of this moment for Kupka who was very active during the war, worked to include Czechs in the war effort, and fought under Marechal’s Foch command at the end of it when he was made captain and given the Légion d’ Honneur. As the Czech nation accedes to freedom, independence and statehood the artist is also giving us a unique art manifesto combining the abstract geometrical form he has been pioneering for less than a decade with the more classical figurative and often illustrative form he was also fond of. Kupka is now 50 years old and a new life begins...