Jan Matulka (1890-1972)
Born November 7, 1890, in Vlachovo Brezi, Czechoslovakia, Jan Matulka and his family immigrated to New York in 1907. The following year he enrolled in the National Academy of Design where he studied for nine years and developed an academic and representational early style. In 1917 he received a travel scholarship and set off to explore New Mexico, Arizona, and Florida. During his trip he lived with the Hopi Indians and created numerous paintings that reveal a growing interest in abstract art.
Matulka made his first journey to Paris in 1919 and spent most of the years between 1920 and 1924 abroad. His style shifted between realistic representation and more abstract and stylized compositions. In 1924, Matulka began splitting his time between Paris and New York City, where he regularly exhibited for the next decade. Between 1922 and 1934 he also maintained a studio in Paris.
Matulka’s subjects ranged from landscapes and still lifes to portraits and interior scenes. In his oil paintings and watercolors of the late 1920s, he achieved his most sophisticated cubist works. In addition to his painting, he created a series of precisionist etchings of scenes of New York as well as illustrations for the socialist magazine New Masses. Matulka was employed by the Public Works of Art Project and the Federal Art Project from 1935 to 1939 as a muralist. In 1931 he participated in a group exhibition organized by Stuart Davis at the Art Students League, where Matulka taught from 1929 until 1932. His work was shown along with the paintings of Davis, John Graham, and Arshile Gorky, solidifying friendships among these artists.
Matulka made some of his most significant contributions as a teacher. His students included Burgoyne Diller, David Smith, Dorothy Dehner, and George McNeil. Matulka continued to paint and exhibit throughout his life. He died in New York in 1972.
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