Skip to main content
Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 5

"Nude and Unicorn, " High Style Art Deco Painting by Matulka, Blue & Black, 1944

About the Item

This brilliant example of Art Deco painting by Jan Matulka shows hints of the modern take on Cubism that the artist worked out with Stuart Davis. Matulka was born in Prague and came to America as a young man, and trained here and in Paris, where he became exposed to Cubism. He exhibited in New York, created illustrations for New Masses which advanced the interest of American workers, and worked for the Works Progress Administration in the Roosevelt years. This painting shows all the hallmarks of high Art Deco, with its stylized female nude with Classical features, its boldly-painted unicorn, and its exaggerated plant forms, all in a brilliant palette of cerulean blue, mossy green and deep black.
  • Creator:
    Jan Matulka (Painter)
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 12.25 in (31.12 cm)Width: 17 in (43.18 cm)Depth: 1 in (2.54 cm)
  • Style:
    Art Deco (Of the Period)
  • Materials and Techniques:
  • Place of Origin:
  • Period:
  • Date of Manufacture:
    1944
  • Condition:
  • Seller Location:
    Philadelphia, PA
  • Reference Number:
    1stDibs: LU86511177890

More From This Seller

View All
"Grecian Nude and Broken Column, " Art Deco/Surrealist Painting by Matulka
By Jan Matulka
Located in Philadelphia, PA
This brilliant Surrealist composition, with the stylization and exaggerated plant forms of Art Deco, was painted by Jan Matulka in 1944. Both Surrealism and "Moderne" decorative arts thrived in the 1940s, and here the artist draws from both styles. Matulka was born in Prague and came to America as a young man, and trained here and in Paris, where he became exposed to Cubism. He exhibited in New York, created illustrations for New Masses which advanced the interest of American workers...
Category

Vintage 1940s American Art Deco Paintings

Materials

Watercolor, Ink, Paper

"Nude with Parrot, " Brilliant Cubist-Art Deco Painting by Popczyk, Red and Blue
By Jozef Popczyk
Located in Philadelphia, PA
Painted in a kaleidoscopic array of brilliant colors -- tangerine, emerald green, scarlet, deep sky blue and black -- this Cubist work depicts a nude female figure and a parrot sitting on a circular perch, surrounded by a crazy quilt of patterns. The artist -- Joseph Popczyk -- was known for his vivid palette and love of Cubism, and in this case the chevrons and wavy patterns of Art Deco can...
Category

Vintage 1930s French Art Deco Paintings

Materials

Paint

"Shepherd with Staff", High Style Art Deco Painting by Schmied, Book Illustrator
By François-Louis Schmied
Located in Philadelphia, PA
This elegant and lovely depiction of a shepherd with his staff, clearly influenced by classic Greek painting and pottery, was made by François-Louis Schmied, one of France's two lead...
Category

Vintage 1920s French Art Deco Paintings

Materials

Paint

"Nude Swimmers and Octopus, " Study for Art Deco Mural in Black, Pink and Blue
Located in Philadelphia, PA
Highly sophisticated and striking in conception and execution, this study for an Art Deco bathroom mural depicts -- appropriately -- male and female nud...
Category

Vintage 1940s American Art Deco Paintings

Materials

Paint

"Nude with Basket, " Striking Art Deco Gouache Painting by Hentschel
By William Hentschel
Located in Philadelphia, PA
Painted by William Hentschel, one of Rookwood Pottery's most celebrated artisans in the Art Deco era, this very rare gouache depicts a half-nude female figure carrying a basket fille...
Category

Vintage 1930s American Art Deco Paintings

Materials

Paper

"Ice Skating, " Fabulous, High Style Art Deco Painting for B. Altman Dept. Store
Located in Philadelphia, PA
One of the finest examples of illustration art and Art Deco painting we have ever offered, this elegant and sophisticated view of New Yorkers skating arm in arm on a frozen pond or l...
Category

Vintage 1920s American Art Deco Paintings

Materials

Paint

You May Also Like

Art Deco Painting By Adelaide Lima Cruz, 1944, Feminist Art
By Maria Adelaide Lima Cruz
Located in Lisbon, PT
A couple's love scene. A pastel and charcoal painting on paper. 1949 ‘Maria Adelaide de Lima Cruz’ signed and with a dedication by the Artist. Mounted in frame with glass. Maria A...
Category

20th Century Portuguese Art Deco Paintings

Materials

Glass, Wood, Paper

Art Deco Black and White Male Nude Painting by Emil Fiala Vienna, circa 1918
By Emil Fiala
Located in Vienna, AT
The painter Emil Fiala (8.9.1896 Prossnitz - Mähren Czech Republic - Dec. 1960 Vienna) studied at the Viennese Academy by Franz Rumpler, August Eisenmenger, Julius Schmid, Christian ...
Category

Early 20th Century Austrian Art Deco Paintings

Materials

Paper

Art Deco Oil Painting Reproduction of “Suzanne” by Robert Blue, Nagel Style
Located in Delray Beach, FL
Add a splash of Art Deco glamour to your space with our Oil Painting Reproduction of “Suzanne” by Robert Blue, Nagel Style. This exceptional vintage 1980s ...
Category

Vintage 1980s Art Deco Paintings

Materials

Canvas

Painting by Barbara Pound, Female Nude Painting, Sky Blue and Rose, C 1960, Art
Located in New York, NY
Beautiful nude painting by Barbara Pound, circa 1960. Water colors.
Category

Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Paintings

Materials

Paper

Olympia Signed Hilgers Painting 1930 Art Deco Nude
Located in Marseille, FR
Oil on canvas painting signed Hilgers bottom right. 1930s, depicting a young woman naked kind of Olympia in the Art Deco style.
Category

Mid-20th Century French Art Deco Paintings

Materials

Canvas

Signed Art Deco Nude by John Montroue
Located in Redding, CT
Art Deco Nude by John Montroue, signed in lower right corner and reverse reads - "Grace" Air brush technique by John Montroue, 8/70. Dramatic silhouette of a female nude, cubist/mode...
Category

Mid-20th Century Art Deco Paintings

Materials

Wood, Masonite, Paint

Recently Viewed

View All