An oil on canvas by Czech pioneer František Kupka titled Nondescript space (Non-descriptive space) sold at Sotheby’s in Paris for 8.99 million euros, equivalent to approximately 217.5 million Czech crowns including the buyer’s premium, according to reports from Novinky.cz and Art+. The sale sets a new world auction record in euros for a work by the artist sold in a foreign auction.
The large-scale abstract work, created between 1914 and 1922, reached the upper limit of the auction house’s pre-sale estimate of six to eight million euros before the buyer’s premium. The final price edges past Kupka’s previous foreign auction record held by The Eruption II (Blasting II), which sold at Sotheby’s in London in March 2021 for 7.55 million British pounds—then approximately 230.8 million crowns, or 8.81 million euros.
Evolution and Exhibition History of the Record Work
Nondescript space represents an experimental phase in Kupka’s career as he moved away from depicting external reality to explore relationships between color, shape, and rhythm. According to the Sotheby’s catalog, the piece originally carried the title Graphic reasons, with its initial iteration documented in 1913. Kupka later revised the composition significantly, simplifying colored shapes and expanding the empty space in the center of the canvas to create an optical illusion of depth.
The painting features an extensive exhibition history. The work was shown in Prague during the artist’s retrospective at Mánes in 1946, followed by numerous exhibitions abroad.
Domestic Auction Records and Market Standing
While foreign sales command high totals, the highest price ever paid for a Kupka work on the domestic market remains Conception (Conception). That painting sold on April 21, 2024, at the Adolf Loos Apartment and Gallery in Prague for 126.5 million crowns including the auction surcharge. Art market specialists note that Kupka’s geometric and abstract compositions continue to attract collectors willing to invest tens or hundreds of millions of crowns, though prices for his works vary depending on the medium and period.
František Kupka’s Life, Career, and Institutional Collections
Born in Opočno on September 23, 1871, Kupka grew up in eastern Bohemia, trained as a saddler in Dobruška, and subsequently studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague and in Vienna before relocating to Paris in 1896. During his early years in the French capital, he earned a living by painting posters, taught religion, and even performed as a spiritualist medium, later achieving international acclaim around 1903 through the publication of his satirical drawings. He helped establish orphism, a movement aligning painting with music and poetry, and referred to himself as a “colored symphonist” who linked colors to specific emotions. Alongside Wassily Kandinsky and Kazimir Malevich, he stands among the pioneers of abstract art. In 1914, he volunteered for the First World War front, where he was wounded in the battle of the River Aisne and earned the rank of captain, later helping organize Czechoslovak legions in France and founding the Czech Colony. He also lectured as a professor at the Prague Academy starting in 1920 and later taught Czechoslovak scholarship holders in Paris, before passing away on June 24, 1957, in the Paris suburb of Puteaux, where he is buried.
Beyond individual masterpieces, art market experts emphasize that the latest record sum is by no means a ceiling for Kupka’s works. Significant institutional holdings of his art are housed in Prague, including at Museum Kampa—founded by Meda Mládková, who was in personal contact with Kupka—which holds two hundred works including Amorphous – Warm chromatics (Amorpha – Chromatic Warmth). Kupka exhibited that piece alongside Amorpha – Two-tone fugue (Amorpha – Two-Color Fugue) at a Paris salon in 1912, a pivotal year for modern art that is frequently cited as the birth of abstract painting. The National Gallery Prague holds the second of those Amorpha works alongside a substantial collection of the artist’s creations, anchored by a 1946 acquisition by the Czechoslovak state and the subsequent purchase of the Waldes collection.
Frequently Asked Questions
When and where was Nondescript space sold?
The painting sold at the Sotheby’s auction house in Paris, according to reports from Novinky.cz and Art+.
What was the previous foreign auction record for a Kupka painting?
The previous record was held by Blasting II (The Eruption II), which fetched 7.55 million British pounds at Sotheby’s in London in March 2021, equivalent to 8.81 million euros at the time.
What is the most expensive Kupka work sold in the Czech Republic?
The painting Conception (Conception) holds the domestic record, selling for 126.5 million crowns including the buyer’s premium at a Prague auction in April 2024.
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