Invitation: Press conference, Wed 20 February at 11:00 – František Kupka

The event will be opened by the Museum Director of the Ateneum, Marja Sakari. The exhibition František Kupka will be presented by its curator, Chief Curator of the Ateneum Anna-Maria von Bonsdorff. Light artist Tarja Ervasti will tell about her installation Colour Music with Fractures. The event will be in Finnish. Complimentary coffee.

To book your place at the event, register by Monday 18 February at: pressconference@ateneum.fi

František Kupka 
22 February to 19 May 2019

The Czech artist František Kupka (1871–1957) is known as a pioneer of abstract art. This retrospective of the painter, who enjoyed a long career in Paris, will enable viewers to explore the history of Western art: the stage-wise transition from traditional portraiture towards abstract expression. Kupka’s art has been described as “modern poetry of colour”. In his powerful and almost psychedelic works, Kupka applied Newton’s theory of colour as well as music theory: you can sense rhythm and movement in the paintings.

No major retrospective exhibition of works by Kupka has previously been seen in Finland. The exhibition covers the artist’s entire career, from the 1890s to the 1950s. This international exhibition will feature Kupka’s most important works from, for example, Centre Pompidou, The Guggenheim in New York, and the National Gallery in Prague. The exhibition is produced in cooperation with La Réunion des Musées Nationaux (RMN) / Grand Palais.

Tarja Ervasti: Colour Music with Fractures
22 February to 19 May 2019

Tarja Ervasti’s work of light art comments on the Kupka exhibition by creating musical landscapes of colour, light and sound. The piece creates a meditative space that sensitises the viewer to interrelations between colour and music.

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