Markéta Theinhardt – L’Homme et la Terre

16. May 2026

Art historian Markéta Theinhardt, who has long focused on the work of František Kupka, explains in the video the significance of the illustrations for the encyclopedia L’Homme et la Terre in Kupka’s artistic development.

The encyclopedia L’Homme et la Terre by geographer Élisée Reclus, featuring illustrations by František Kupka, brought together two major figures of modern European culture. Reclus’s monumental work on humanity, history, and the Earth marked the culmination of his scientific and social engagement and is still regarded today as an important work of anarchist thought.

Kupka initially accepted the illustration commission with some hesitation, as he wished to move away from his previous work as a satirist and illustrator. However, his work on the encyclopedia became a key moment in his development: it helped him refine his own concept of ideoplastic representation, which later led to his non-figurative work.

Across more than one hundred illustrations, Kupka combined modern allegory, symbolism of time, history, and progress with Reclus’s ideas about the development of humanity, science, and freedom. The collaboration between the two authors thus represents an important bridge between Kupka’s early socially critical work and his later abstract avant-garde.