Piano Keys. Lake

Between 1909 and 1911, Kupka created several works that mark important milestones on his journey to abstraction. They include Piano Keys, Lake (1909) in which the natural motifs smoothly convert into abstract elements of verticals and colour planes. Two scenes mingle in the painting: on the top a barque with trippers floats on the lake while at the bottom one recognises a piano keyboard with a playing hand. The ascending tones ripple the water like the floating dinghy. The painting is at the boundary of Kupka’s figurative and abstract creations and foreshadows the future collection of Vertical Planes.