Matulka painted landscapes throughout his career; he interpreted them in a modernist idiom less radical than that of his stilllife compositions. In 1921 he began summering regularly in Czechoslovakia and while there began his "Village" scenes. Although Autumn Landscape has an inscription on the stretcher dating it to 1926, the painting’s style is more like that of his landscapes of 1921-23. The cubic structure of the houses suggests the influence of Cézanne and Picasso. The rich palette and exuberant brushwork reveal the impact of more contemporary art. Matulka may have known of the art of Franz Marc (1880-1916), yet it is more likely that landscapes such as Autumn Landscape were informed by the post World War I School of Paris, in particular, artists such as Roger de la Fresnaye (1885-1925) who were active in Paris when Matulka lived in that city. The brilliant hues-clear yellows, oranges, and russets, and bold blues and greens-are more allied with the second generation cubists than with Picasso himself. Critics commented on the vibrance of Matulka’s palette when this painting was exhibited in his first solo exhibition. Also seen in this and other landscapes shown in that 1927 exhibit is Matulka’s overwhelming love of movement: not only did he often use the motif of a sweeping road to lead the viewer into his scenes, he also enlivened his surfaces with patches of flickering color that almost contradict the solidity of the forms.
Although the brilliant autumnal colors might suggest a New England locale, an area in which Matulka is known to have summered during the mid-1920s, the site may have been in France or Czechoslovakia. A partially erased inscription on the frame indicates Provence as the locale. For Matulka landscapes were personal reminiscences of places he knew intimately.