Correcting the Archive
QUAD AD CAUSUM SUMUS
dfg
"Why are we?"
This is the inscription faintly carved into the base of the sphinx closest to us. One of the oldest symbols of humanity; the sphinx is often the guardian to that which is mysterious, or the next world. As in myth of Oedipus, she often asks a question that if wrongly answered not only bars the way to wisdom on the other side, but has fatal consequences. The Way of Silence I by Frantisek Kupka surrounds a lone figure with those that pose the hardest question: “why are we”. According to Audrey Wagtberg Hansen in her article Cold Gods and Fatal Women: The Many Faces of the Sphinx in the 19th Century, the painting was inspired by the poem Dream-land by Edgar Allan Poe:
By a route obscure and lonely,
Haunted by ill angels only,
Where an Eidolon, named NIGHT,
On a black throne reigns upright,
I have reached these lands but newly
From an ultimate dim Thule—
From a wild weird clime that lieth, sublime,
Out of SPACE—Out of TIME.
Kupka made several studies before his final painting, and the similarity between them and their shared titles has resulted in a lot of misattribution regarding their current locations, their sizes, and mediums.
However, with confirmation from various institutions, we know that the final painting is in National Gallery of Prague, not Minneapolis Institute of Art (as is often attributed), where the etching currently sits in the archive. And most likely, the chronological order of the pieces’ creation the following:
Side by side, we can see the progression of mediums and artistic changes between the works.
Pastel is a quick sketching medium, etching takes longer and often follows a worked out composition. The inclusion of the figure, and the refinement of the stars, well as the overall composition, culminates into the final oil painting which masterfully radiates with a soft glow.
Not only are there multiple studies, but there were multiple versions of etchings produced, all scattered in archives or private collections with little confirmation on any accurate information on several. Symposium is dedicated to researching as thoroughly, with the most up-to-date information on the artworks in our archive so as to give the most helpful resource for artists and art enthusiasts.
Found a problem? Contact us.
