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In the painting "Ballad (Joys of Life)," Kupka depicted his two loves riding horses along the seashore – the prematurely deceased Danish woman, Maria Brühnova, and the French woman, Gabrielle. In January 1902, he wrote to his friend, the poet Josef Svatopluk Machar: "You ask me in the ticket what I am doing now? I want to express, with simple means, the feelings I had when I was sitting alone on the seashore. There are two women, rather unattractive, on horseback, who are approaching the seashore, gazing at the warm glow of the setting sun. The entire seashore and the clouds create a harmony, a note of some unknown joys, and in the clouds, it's as if thousands of sprites are dancing and jumping joyfully. We all yearn for some kind of joy – a pure, non-material feeling of well-being, and I would like anyone who sees this to feel similar emotions." On the back of the painting, there is the inscription "Epona ballade des joies." Epona was a popular goddess in Celtic mythology, associated with horses ("epos" in Old Welsh meant horse), and was often depicted riding a mare. Thus, in this painting, Kupka intertwined his personal story with Celtic mythology.

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