František Kupka

František Kupka (1871 –1957), also known as Frank Kupka or François Kupka, was a Czech painter and graphic artist.

He was a pioneer and co-founder of the early phases of the abstract art movement and Orphic Cubism (Orphism). Kupka's abstract works arose from a base of realism, but later evolved into pure abstract art.

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 (on the French side) and is mentioned in La Main coupée by Blaise Cendrars. Cendrars describes him as a "proud soldier, calm, placid, strong", but really too old to be a soldier, being at least 25 years older than the rest.

Kupka had a strong interest in colour theory and freeing colours from descriptive associations. Kupka was a vegetarian and took interest in theosophy. He practiced as a spiritualist medium and was alleged to have experienced clairvoyant trances.