František Kupka
The Yellow Scale

The Yellow Scale

© Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris

The Yellow Scale
The Yellow Scale
ArtistCzech, 1871–1957
CultureCzech
Titles
  • The Yellow Scale
Datec. 1907
PlaceParis, France
MediumOil on canvas
DimensionsCanvas: 31 × 29 1/4 in. (78.7 × 74.3 cm)
Credit LineJohn A. and Audrey Jones Beck Collection, museum purchase funded by Audrey Jones Beck
Object number94.247
Current Location
The Audrey Jones Beck Building
223 Beck Galleries
On view

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Object Type
Description

Although it is provocative to view The Yellow Scale as a self-portrait, the true subject of this riveting work is the color yellow. The intense hues combine with František Kupka’s confident gaze, the book in one hand, cigarette in the other, to convey a strong sense of the artist’s personality.


Kupka was an eccentric, sensual man with a lifelong fascination for spiritualism and the occult. Though he never completely abandoned naturalistic representation, he was one of the pioneers in developing Abstract painting early in the 20th century. Kupka explored philosophically and scientifically the nature of color—its unity and total effect on a work of art. Beginning with one color, Kupka played out its full scale and range, which for him translated into a work with a spiritual quality. "Atmosphere in a painting is achieved through bathing the canvas in a single scale of colors," he said. "Thus one achieves an état d'âme (state of being) exteriorized in luminous form."


ProvenancePrivate collection, Vienna, Austria; [Christie's, London, 1994, sale, lot no. 257]; Mrs. Audrey Jones Beck, Houston, 1994; gift to MFAH of Mrs. Audrey Jones Beck, 1994.
Exhibition History"Circa 1900: Decorative Arts at the Turn of the Century," Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, February 26–July 31, 2011.

"The Marzio Years: Transforming the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, 1982–2010," Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, October 25, 2020–January 10, 2021.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks
Inscription: Lower left corner of painting: "IIe étude pour 'la Gamme jaune'"
Signed, lower right corner of painting: "Kupka"

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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