František Kupka

František Kupka (also known as Frank Kupka or François Kupka; 23 September 1871 – 24 June 1957) was a Czech painter and illustrator who moved from realism to abstract art, pioneering Orphism.

František Kupka was born in Opočno (eastern Bohemia) in Austria-Hungary (now in the Czech Republic) on 23 September 1871. From 1889 to 1892, he studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague. At this time, he painted historical and patriotic themes. Kupka enrolled at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna, where he concentrated on symbolic and allegorical subjects. He was influenced by the painter and social reformer Karl Wilhelm Diefenbach (1851–1913) and his naturistic life-style.

Kupka exhibited at the Kunstverein, Vienna, in 1894. His involvement with theosophy and Eastern philosophy dates from this period. By spring 1894, Kupka had settled in Paris; there he attended the Académie Julian briefly and then studied with Jean-Pierre Laurens at the École des Beaux-Arts.

Kupka served as a volunteer in the First World War, and is mentioned in La Main coupée by Blaise Cendrars.