OTTO GUTFREUND

In connection with Frantisek Kupka´s exhibition Pori Art Museum presents the works from the Czech sculptor Otto Gutfreund (1889-1927). Gutfreund can be seen as the representative of modern sculpture and one of the first artists to have applied the ideas of cubism into sculpture.

Publication:
ISBN 951-9355-69-3

Otto Gutfreund: Jan ja Meda Mládekin kokoelmasta/ From Jan and Meda Mládek Collection
Pori Art Museum 14.1.-18.3.2001
Published by The Czech Museum of Fine Arts, Pori Art Museum
Published by Mada Mládkova, Richard Drury, Claudine Končinská, Jan Sekera, Aneta B. Mada Mládkova, Richard Drury, Claudine Končinská, Jan Sekera, Aneta B. Shine, Vlad´ka Mazačova, Jarmila Ditrihová
Editor of the Finnish edition: Esko Nummelin, Petr Rehor, Hannele Kolsio
Translators: Hanu Ylilehto, Seppo Siuro
Graphic design: Esko Nummelin
Photographs: Štěpán Aussenberg
Publication and exhibition sponsors: Embassy of the Czech Republic
The Embassy of the Republic of Finland The Embassy of the Czech Republic The Embassy of the Republic of Estonia Painohhäme Oy, Ylöjärvi 2001

 

MEDIA RELEASE (Translated with ChatGPT)

FRANTIŠEK KUPKA AND OTTO GUTFREUND FROM THE COLLECTIONS OF JAN AND MEDA MLÁDEK
January 14 – March 18, 2001

Jan and Meda Mládek have donated an art collection to the City of Prague that includes over 200 paintings and drawings by František Kupka, along with around 20 sculptures by Otto Gutfreund. This exceptionally significant collection, which has a fascinating history, was first presented in Prague in 1996. In 2001, the collection will be housed in a dedicated museum, located in the historical Sovovy mlýny (Sova’s Mills) building in Prague’s Kampa Park.

Meda Mládek, originally from the Czech Republic and later residing in the United States, became interested in František Kupka’s art in the late 1940s while studying economics and political science in Switzerland. This encounter was so profound that she moved to Paris, began studying art history, and developed a friendship with the reclusive artist. With the support of her husband Jan Mládek, who was also knowledgeable about art, Meda succeeded in assembling a unique collection of Kupka’s works over four decades.

In 1975, when the Guggenheim Museum in New York hosted a major exhibition on František Kupka, Meda Mládek contributed the textual content of the exhibition catalog.

Otto Gutfreund (1889–1927), slightly younger than Kupka, has been described as representing in sculpture what Kupka represented in painting. Gutfreund was among the first artists to apply cubist concepts to sculpture, systematically working on this approach starting in 1912.

Neither artist’s work, with the exception of a few pieces, has previously been exhibited in Finland.

Like many of his Czech contemporaries, Gutfreund became acquainted with both modern art and older traditions, such as Gothic art, while in Paris. Around 1911, he created reliefs closer to expressionism than cubism. By 1912, his works reflected a shift from theatrical dynamism to an expression focusing more on deformation than the disintegration of form. Masterpieces such as The Cellist, Cubist Bust, and The Lovers, completed around 1913, represent the peak of his cubist work.

František Kupka (1871–1957), a Czech-born painter, stands alongside Wassily Kandinsky, Kazimir Malevich, and Piet Mondrian as one of the pioneers of abstract painting and modern art in early 20th-century Europe. Unlike the more prominent figures of the avant-garde, Kupka deliberately remained outside artistic groups, even declining the presidency of the Abstraction-Création group in 1931.

Kupka did not arrive at abstraction via cubism like many of his contemporaries, nor in the manner of Kandinsky, who reportedly discovered abstraction while observing a figurative painting turned upside down. Instead, Kupka transitioned to abstraction directly from academic painting. As early as 1888, while studying under Alois Studnička, he began systematically simplifying forms, emphasizing the use of geometric shapes such as ovals, circles, and curves.

Meda Mládek has described Kupka’s approach to abstraction as unique in the history of modern art: his theory of abstraction preceded its practical application. Unlike Kandinsky and Malevich, whose theories evolved alongside their artworks, Kupka’s theoretical framework served as the foundation for his art and continued to shape his work throughout his career.

Kupka also stands out because, from the moment he created his first purely abstract painting (Nocturne, 1910) to the end of his life, he revisited and refined recurring motifs. Unlike contemporaries such as Picasso, Malevich, Mondrian, Kandinsky, and Delaunay, who progressed through distinct stylistic periods, Kupka maintained a consistent focus on developing his ideas.

Kupka and Kandinsky were the only abstractionists of their generation to avoid relying on Picasso’s liberating cubist principles. Kupka’s disciplined yet free artistic expression stemmed from a style considered the antithesis of modern art.

In works such as Two-Color Fugue, Localization of Graphic Motifs, and Vertical Planes, Kupka achieved pure abstraction early on, combining preparation with carefully considered studies. His pieces reflected both human attitudes and a cosmic worldview, predicting that abstraction would evolve in multiple, parallel directions rather than through sequential phases as in previous art history.

Publications:
In conjunction with the exhibition, Pori Art Museum will release a 400-page, richly illustrated book on František Kupka and a smaller publication on Otto Gutfreund. Both books, as well as the exhibition itself, were developed in collaboration with České muzeum výtvarných umění (The Czech Museum of Fine Arts).

For inquiries:

Information

Artist: OTTO GUTFREUND
14.01.2001 – 18.03.2001
Room: WING