Jan Matulka

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Jan Matulka (7 November 1890 – 25 June 1972) was a Czech-American modernist painter known for working in many styles, from abstract works to landscapes. He was born in Vlachovo Březí, Bohemia (then part of Austria-Hungary) and moved with his family to the Bronx in 1907.

He studied at the National Academy of Design in New York, finishing in 1917. In 1918 he married Lída Jiroušková. As the first Joseph Pulitzer National Traveling Scholar (1917–1918), he traveled across the United States and the Caribbean, painting along the way. He also did illustration work, including Czechoslovak Fairy Tales (1919) and The Shoemaker's Apron (1920).

Matulka split his time between New York and Paris, establishing a studio in Paris and meeting influential artists such as Gertrude Stein and André Lhote. In the mid-1920s he painted urban cityscapes as well as landscapes and explored abstract ideas. He taught at the Art Students League of New York, influencing students like Dorothy Dehner, David Smith, Burgynе Diller, and I. Rice Pereira. He also contributed to various publications and galleries.

In the 1930s he worked on public art through the Public Works of Art Project and the Federal Art Project. He helped found the American Abstract Artists in 1936, though he chose not to join the group. His sister Barbara’s death that year deeply affected him, and he lived a more private life in his later years.

Matulka died in New York City on 25 June 1972 at the age of 81. He is buried in Flushing Cemetery, Queens.