She breaks the white
to fragments of eternal hues,
never caring
if they match the draperies of absent suns;
she ceased to care about horizons
to gaze above for verticals
to climb,
escape from the gilded cage
of its false embrace.
For the prize of fame
the room is broken by the brush
her life on canvas
changed from body, flesh and blood
into broken pigments, oil
and owned
Frantisek Kupka
Today it is dVerse OLN with a live session on Saturday with Lillian hosting. We are given an extra prompt with the painting “Madame Kupka between verticals”. I am sorry for imagining a story between the two paintings, The picture was created by painting over an earlier painting of his wife.
His wife was named Eugénie Straub before she became Mme Kupka. They were married around 1910 around the same time as the second painting was painted. She is one of his most frequent models, but except that there is nothing more to be found through internet search.
Frantisek was a pioneer in the abstract movement, and I can really feel that transition in the second painting where his wife is painted over with his last name.
January 15, 2026
Björn Rudbergs writings 
“the room is broken by the brush” – what a brilliant line to denote the representational into this abstract
Thank you… I reflected a lot on the image.
THANK YOU, Bjorn for doing some research on this painting and the artist. I had no idea the story behind the painting and this makes is all the more interesting! I love that you’ve penned between the two portraits to tell the story here. LOVE it!
It was a little bit research but also a lot of imagination based on the portraits and timeline.
You don’t need to apologize. I wondered about her, too. Thank you for sharing both paintings. So many interesting lines here.
“the room is broken by the brush” stands out to me.
Thank you… it was a mystery for me, I could not find anything about her really… a muse, a wife a model…
You’re welcome. I did a brief search, but I didn’t find too much either.
“never caring
if they match the draperies of absent suns”
There is such strong imagery in this poem, Bjorn. I love how raw the emotion is, how the details unravel with “the room is broken by the brush,”..
This is poetry at its finest! ❤️❤️
Thank you… it took me some research for once (and finding that earlier picture)
Nice.
I especially like these lines:
“She breaks the white
to fragments of eternal hues”
It was a very inspiring painting to write on.
Love the way you embraced the painting to research and imagine. What an interesting story. I especially like the idea that “she ceased to care about horizons
to gaze above for verticals
to climb”
The more I researched the painting and the painter the model became my interest.
Bjorn, after reading your afterword and looking at the 2 images, it became clear why you drew the conclusion you did. She looks blithely oblivious in the first and drowning in the 2nd.
I thought I could spot a story there…
Bjorn, it seems that there are many possible stories in that stark transition.
Thank you for the background to the painting. Björn, which added to your poem. I have to say I prefer Madame Kupka between verticals and agree about the transition. I love these lines:
‘she ceased to care about horizonsto gaze above for verticals’
and
‘changed from body, flesh and bloodinto broken pigments, oil
and owned’.
I prefer the new painting too, and this is clearly a transition to even more abstract