Kupka's painting Divertimento II sold for a new record of 90 million.

Prague – The painting by František Kupka titled Divertimento II was sold at today's auction in Prague for 75.2 million crowns, and the buyer will pay 90.24 million crowns including the auction premium. The painting thus became a new Czech auction record and the most expensive work by Kupka. The starting price of the painting, which according to the auction house is one of the most significant works from his abstract period of the 1930s, was 30 million crowns.

Another record was set at the auction with the canvas by Theodor Pištěk titled Adieu, Guy Moll. It was purchased for over 25 million crowns including the auction premium – making it the most expensive sold work by a living author. The auction itself was also record-breaking – the total starting amount of 210 million was nearly doubled, and for the first time, the barrier of 400 million crowns was crossed in a single auction. This makes it the most successful auction in the history of the Czech Republic. The previous domestic auction record belonged to the painting Queen of Spades by the painter Toyen, which was sold for 78.65 million crowns including the auction premium in October this year.

František Kupka's abstract paintings have long occupied the top positions in the Czech auction rankings. After today, he has four in the top ten, three positions in the top ten belong to Oskar Kokoschka, and two places to Toyen.

The title of Kupka's painting Divertimento relates to Italian musical terminology and denotes a light-hearted or entertaining instrumental composition. Music, of which Kupka was a great admirer, had influenced the painter's work since his early pieces and later transformed in his hands into games of lines and shapes. The painting is linked to Divertimento I, which is in the collection of the Guggenheim Museum in New York, and to the pair of paintings Hot Jazz (I and II, 1935), to which both Divertimentos correspond.

Another attractive canvas by Kupka, Pink Hat created between 1907 and 1909, had a starting price of 25 million crowns and was sold for 34.8 million crowns. It thus became the second most expensive work of today's auction.

Post-war works by Mikuláš Medek also attracted the interest of buyers. His most expensive painting at the auction was the canvas Collapsed Signal from 1963, which sold for 13.9 million crowns (the starting price was six million). For the painting Intersection of Blind Birds from 1926, the buyer paid 5.5 million crowns; the starting price was 1.5 million.

A comprehensive collection presented a cross-section of Emil Filla's work from early pieces to post-war works. Among the most prominent was the painting Jug and Flute sold for 12.4 million and Still Life with Mandolin auctioned for 12 million crowns. The futuristically styled work by Josef Čapek Shot Crow from 1936 was auctioned for 9.7 million crowns.

Overview of the most expensive paintings sold at auctions in the Czech Republic (prices are including the auction premium):

	Author	Title	Price (in millions CZK)	Year
1.	František Kupka	Divertimento II	90.24	2020
2.	Toyen	Queen of Spades	78.65	2020
3.	Oskar Kokoschka	Prague – View from the Křižovnický Monastery	78.5	2019
4.	František Kupka	Transverse Fields II	78	2019
5	František Kupka	Series C I. (Countervalues)	62	2016
6	František Kupka	Blue Shape	57.4	2012
7.	Mikuláš Medek	Action I (Egg)	57	2019
8.	Oskar Kokoschka	Prague	52.08	2017
9.	Oskar Kokoschka	Frogs	37.7	2016
10.	Josef Šíma	ML (Egg, Picture, Balance, MZ)	36.2	2018