Jan Matulka
American, born Czechoslovakia, 1890 - 1972Four Nudes in a Landscape, 1923
Not on view
Etching and drypoint on paper
Dimensions10 3/4 × 13 15/16 in.
Gift of the Estate of Jan Matulka, 2016.5
Although primarily known as a painter, American artist Jan Matulka also made prints from the early 1920s to about 1930. During his time as a student at the National Academy of Design in New York, he was introduced to printmaking. Between 1919 and 1924, Matulka made a series of trips to Paris, where he gained firsthand experience with the European avant-garde.
In addition to the four nudes of the title, there are two figures in a row boat off shore. The nude women on the beach, however, do not seem to notice. Their facial expressions are blank and masklike. The choice to depict them this way was more a stylistic decision than an intention to show lack of emotion. In the early 20th century, avant-garde artists were inspired by non-Western sculpture, such as African and Iberian masks and statuary, such as seen in Picasso’s Les Demoiselles d'Avignon of 1907 (now in the Museum of Modern Art, NY). Matulka also diminishes the size of the head and exaggerates the muscular physique and curves of the women, adding to the sense that these are not real women but sculpted creations.
