JAN MATULKA (American, 1890-1972). Cape Ann Abstraction, circa 1931. Gouache and pencil on paper. 12 x 18 inches (30.5 x...

Description

JAN MATULKA (American, 1890-1972)
Cape Ann Abstraction, circa 1931
Gouache and pencil on paper
12 x 18 inches (30.5 x 45.7 cm)
Signed lower left in pencil: Matulka
Estate stamped verso

PROVENANCE:
Estate of the Artist;
Private Midwest Collection.

EXHIBITED:
David Cook Galleries, Denver, Colorado (label verso);
Cape Ann Historical Museum, Gloucester, Massachusetts, Jan Matulka: A Painter's Eye on Cape Ann, essay by Henry Adams, June 10, 2006 to September 10, 2006, cat. no. 6 (label verso).

This abstraction is a fine example of Matulka's early 1930s hard-edged style which closely resembles the work of his friend Stuart Davis. During this period, Matulka painted a number of compositions of this type which blend landscape elements (such as the hull of a boat half submerged in a body of water near the horizon line) and a jumble of nautical motifs arranged on a foreground plane in the manner of a still life. He produced these works in Gloucester, Massachusetts between roughly 1931 and 1936.

As Henry Adams noted of this phase of Matulka's work, citing this particular abstraction as a prime example of Matulka's penchant for combining abstract color patterns with an overlay of line drawing: "The colors are deployed in a fashion which is nearly abstract, although they tend to form biomorphic shapes. The lines show recognizable forms such as anchors or the ribs of wrecked and decaying boats. The fascination of these pieces lies in the way in which the colors sometimes serve to outline the form, sometimes to run across and deny it. These designs move a step further beyond Cubism toward Abstract Expressionism. They often recall the early work of [Matulka's friend, Arshile] Gorky, although Matulka generally did not abandon his gifts as a draftsman. Usually we can recognize what is recording, only a few paintings drift (as does Cape Ann Abstraction) towards pure abstraction (Jan Matulka: A Painter's Eye on Cape Ann, 2006, pp. 4 and 7).

On the reverse of this gouache is a line drawing of buildings which resemble structures found along a waterfront. The drawing bears color annotations in Matulka's native Czech, suggesting the artist intended to use it eventually as the study for a later painting. A photocopy of the drawing is preserved in an clear acetate sleeve on the back of the painting's housing.

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