89th Auction, lot 107 This charming, hitherto unknown painting, radiating immediate sensuality, presents František Kupka as an artist exceptionally acquainted with anatomy and female proportions. Capturing a female act is one of the oldest painting tasks that have fascinated artists for centuries. It was no different with František Kupka, who belongs among the consummators of classical figurative art in the Czech environment. In addition to his natural talent, he also gained experience at the academies in Prague and Vienna under the guidance of František Sequens and August Eisenmenger. Not long before the execution of the presented work, the young artist drew attention to himself as a figure painter with the artwork entitled Dying Heine’s Last Dream, establishing himself as a skilled portraitist of the Viennese aristocracy at the same time. In 1895, he executed a painting entitled Shadow, depicting a female nude whose model, with her appearance and hairstyle, strikingly resembles the young woman portrayed here on white fur. The difference between these two paintings lies mainly in their message. Shadow, above all thanks to the distinctive position of the hands behind the young woman’s back, is a purely narrative, historical subject, most likely developing the theme of the Orphaned from the Královédvorský Manuscript, or the story of the chained female warrior, Šárka, from the legendary Maiden’s War. The young woman sitting on the fur left this narrative framework, emphasising purely sensual qualities, but the narrative component, although generalised, is not missing here either. She is reading a letter with interest, the love content of which is enhanced by her sensual nudity. Worth mentioning is also the rendering of her skin with a distinctive brushwork, which can also be noticed in Kupka’s other works; it is defined primarily by the specific texture of brushstrokes placed next to each other, creating hatching used to model the body volume. The artist used a similar technique for example in his well-known painting Money from the collections of the National Gallery in Prague (inv. no. O 17459). This artwork is undoubtedly a discovery of high collectable value, which organically fits into the line of the Kupkas’s rapid artistic development, as evidenced by the art-historical expertise and restoration report. Assessed during consultations by PhDr. R. Michalová and PhDr. E. Havlová. Attached is the expertise of PhDr. K. Srp, together with the restoration report by ak. mal. Z. Grohmanová.