Flowers in a Basket

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Flowers in a Basket

Artist: Jan Matulka (American, born Czech Republic, 1890 - 1972)

Date: 1921

Medium: Oil on canvas

Dimensions:

Framed: 29 1/2 × 22 3/4 in. (74.9 × 57.8 cm)

Credit Line: San Antonio Museum of Art, gift of Dr. Mary E. Walker in honor of Myrtle Agnew Walker

Object number: 2023.5.6

Signed: Signed lower right: "Matulka". Bears the artist's estate stamp on the reverse

Provenance: Thomas McCormick Gallery, Chicago, Illinois; Acquired by a Distinguished Southern Gentleman, 1995; Heritage Auction, Dallas, Lot #68170, May 4, 2018; Acquired at the above sale by The MAW Gallery, Austin. Texas.

Label Text

Jan Matulka was known for his eclectic style and could easily shift from academic realism to Abstract Expressionism. Here, in Flowers in a Basket, we see that range in a finely rendered still life of flowers that is realistic yet carries with it a Cubist undertone reminiscent of the work of French painter Paul Cézanne.

A native of Bohemia (now part of the Czech Republic), Matulka immigrated to the Bronx as a teenager in 1907. While in New York City, he attended the National Academy of Design. After graduation, he was awarded the Pulitzer National Traveling Scholarship, which he used to travel throughout the US and the Caribbean. After marrying, he and his wife traveled through Europe, and for years he continued to maintain a studio in New York City as well as Paris. In New York, he was an influential teacher at the Arts Students League where he imparted modernist principles to students and continued to teach privately even after leaving the league.

(Regina Palm, 2024)

On view

The San Antonio Museum of Art is in the process of digitizing its permanent collection. This electronic record was created from historic documentation that does not necessarily reflect SAMA's complete or current knowledge about the object. Review and updating of such records is ongoing.

Artwork

Flowers in a Basket

Flowers in a Basket