Lot Essay
The present gouache is a study for the artist's painting Contrastes gothiques from circa 1920. This unique figurative cycle from 1920-1925 focuses on the arched vaulting and glistening windows of Gothic cathedrals and includes several other known paintings such as Cristal (Collection Gallien), Contraste gothique (Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design), and Contrastes gothiques (Museé National d'Art Moderne, Paris). These works are typical of Kupka's experimental painting in the post-war period when he returned briefly to representational subjects in order to work out problems of color and form.