The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 18, 2025

Amorpha: Fugue in Two Colors II

1910–11

Frantisek Kupka

(Czech, 1871–1957)
Czechoslovakia, 20th century
oil on canvas
Framed: 129.5 x 84.8 x 7.6 cm (51 x 33 3/8 x 3 in.); Unframed: 111.7 x 68.6 cm (44 x 27 in.); Former: 129.9 x 84.8 x 6.5 cm (51 1/8 x 33 3/8 x 2 9/16 in.)
Contemporary Collection of The Cleveland Museum of Art 1969.51
© Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris
Location: 223 20th Century Avant-Garde

Did You Know?

Inspired by the music of Johann Sebastian Bach, Kupka employed color to try to create something that involved both the visual and the auditory in his art.

Description

The initial subject for this painting was the artist’s stepdaughter Andrée playing in the garden with a ball, but as he worked, František Kupka came to believe that accurately capturing both the movement of the ball and the child at play was impossible. Kupka created an abstract composition comprised of vibrantly colorful curving forms to suggest Andrée’s gestures and the movement of the ball in space. It is one of the earliest steps toward pure abstract painting in the history of modern art.
  • Purchased from the artist by Alexander Liberman, New York, in 1953.
    [Eugene Victor Thaw and Co., New York]
  • Cleveland Museum of Art. Art of the Twentieth Century in the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: Dept. of Art History & Education, CMA, 1969. Mentioned: p. 2 archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 243 archive.org
    Henning, Edward B. Creativity in Art and Science, 1860-1960. [Cleveland, Ohio]: Published by the Cleveland Museum of Art in cooperation with Indiana University Press, 1987. Reproduced: P. 70, pl. V; Mentioned and reproduced: P. 120, no. 28
    Swartz, Anne. "A Redating of Kupka's "Amorpha, Fugue in Two Colors II"." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 80, no. 8 (1993): 327-51. Reproduced: cover, p. 328; Mentioned: p. 327-51 25161426
    Kosinski, Dorothy M. and Jaroslav Anděl. Painting the Universe: František Kupka, Pioneer in Abstraction. Ostfildern-Ruit, Germany: Verlag Gerd Hatje, 1997. Reproduced: p. 118
    Sims, Lowery Stokes. The Persistence of Geometry: Form, Content, and Culture in the Collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2006. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 62, fig. 11
    Lekeš, Vladimír, et. al. František Kupka: catalogue raisonné des huiles = Catalogue raisonné of oil paintings = Soupis olejomaleb. Praha: Adolf Loos Apartment and Gallery; London: Koenig Books, 2016. Reproduced: p.166, no. 094
    Von Bonsdorff, Anna Marie. "L'Abstraction sonore de Kupka Musicalité, couleur et spiritualisme." In Kupka: pionnier de l'abstraction. Brigitte Léal, Markéta Theinhardt, Pierre Brullé, Jean-François Allain, and Jean-Gaspard Pálenícek, 113-131. Paris: Éditions de la Réunion des musées nationaux, 2018. Reproduced: p. 123, cat. 113
    Von Bonsdorff, Anna-Maria. "Kupkova Zvukova Abstrakce--Hudba, Barva a Spiritualita." In František Kupka, 1871-1957. Pravdová, Anna, Marketa Theinhardt, Nathalie Ernoult, and Brigitte Léal, eds., 80-89. Paris: Éditions de la Réunion des musées nationaux-Grand Palais; Prague: Národní Galerie; Helsinki: Finnish National Gallery, Ateneum Art Museum. 2018. Reproduced: p. 84, fig. 117
    Pravdová, Anna. František Kupka 1871-1957. [Prague]: Národní galerie v Praze, 2018. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 86-87
    von Bonsdorff, Anna-Maria. "Frantisek Kupka. Sounding Abstraction -- Musicality, Colour and Spiritualism." In František Kupka. Anne-Maria Pennonen, Hanne Selkokari, and Lene Wahlsten, eds., 11-27. Helsinki: Ateneum, Finnish National Gallery, 2018. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 13-14
  • Kupka. Pioneer of Abstraction. Galeries Nationales du Grand Palais, 75008 Paris, France (March 19-July 30, 2018); National Gallery, Prague (September 7, 2018-January 20, 2019); Ateneum Art Museum, Helsinki, Finland (February 11-June 16, 2019).
    Réunion des musées nationaux - Grand Palais. Galeries Nationales du Grand Palais, Paris, France (3/19/2018 – 7/30/2018), National Gallery, Prague, Czech Republic (9/15/2018 – 1/20/2019), and Ateneum Art Museum, Helsinki, Finland (2/11/2019 – 6/16/2019): "Kupka. Pioneer of Abstraction"
    Monet to Dalí: Modern Masters from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Beijing World Art Museum (May 26-August 27, 2006); Mori Art Center (September 16-November 26, 2006); Seoul Art Center, South Korea (December 22, 2006-March 28, 2007); Seoul Olympic Museum of Art, South Korea (April 7-May 20, 2007); Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, Canada (June 9-September 16, 2007); The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 21, 2007-January 13, 2008); Frist Art Museum, Nashville, TN (February 15-June 1, 2008); Utah Museum of Fine Arts, Salt Lake City, UT (June 22-September 21, 2008); The Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, MI (October 12, 2008-January 18, 2009).
    CMA (organizer). Beijing World Art Museum, China, May 26 - Aug. 27, 2006; Mori Arts Center, Tokyo, Japan: Sept. 9 - Nov. 26, 2006; Seoul Arts Center, Seoul, Korea: Dec. 18, 2006 - March 31, 2007; Seoul Olympic Museum of Art, Seoul, Korea: Apr. 7 - May 20, 2007; Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada: June 9 - Sept. 16, 2007; Cleveland Museum of Art, Oct. 21, 2007- January 13, 2008; Frist Center for the Visual Arts, Nashville, TN, Feb. 21-June 1, 2008; Utah Museum of Fine Arts, Salt Lake City, UT, June 22 - September 21, 2008; and the Detroit Institute of Arts, MI, October 12, 2008 - January 18, 2009: "Modern Masters from the Cleveland Museum of Art"
    Sons et Lumières. Centre national d'art et de culture Georges Pompidou, Paris cedex O4, France (organizer) (September 22, 2004-January 3, 2005).
    Centre natinal d'art et de cullture Georges Pompidou, Paris (9/22/2004 - 1/3/2005): "Sons et Lumières"
    Musical Analogies, Kandinsky and his Contemporaries. Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid, Spain (organizer) (February 11-May 25, 2003).
    Museo Thyssen-Bornesmisza, Madrid (2/11/2003-5/25/2003): "Muscial Analogies, Kandinsky and his Contemporaries"
    Painting the Universe: Frantisek Kupka, Pioneer of Abstraction. The Dallas Museum of Art (organizer) (June 1-August 24, 1997); Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg (September 27, 1997-January 5, 1998); National Gallery, Prague (February 2-May 10, 1998).
    Kupka. Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, Paris, France (November 22, 1989-February 25, 1990).
    Creativity in Art and Science, 1860-1960. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 16-November 8, 1987).
    Abstraction: Towards a New Art. Tate, London SW1P 4RG (organizer) (February 5-April 13, 1980).
    Frantisek Kupka: A Retrospective. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, NY (organizer) (October 10-December 7, 1975); Kunsthaus Zürich, CH-8024 Zürich, Switzerland (January 14-March 14, 1976).
    Year in Review: 1969. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 27-February 22, 1970).
  • {{cite web|title=Amorpha: Fugue in Two Colors II|url=false|author=Frantisek Kupka|year=1910–11|access-date=18 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1969.51