Lída Matulka worked for the New York Public Library as the head of the Czechoslovak literature section and helped connect her husband to the larger cultural community.

[citation needed] In 1919 Matulka illustrated Czechoslovak Fairy Tales with writer Parker Fillmore and published by Hippocrene Books.

In 1920 the pair compiled a second book, The Shoemaker's Apron, published by Harcourt Brace & Company The next few years Jan and Lida traveled to Czechoslovakia to visit the old family farm, as well as to Germany and France.

Matulka found inspiration in the scenery of Tŭri Pôle village, a place that fueled many more paintings over the years.

In Paris he was acquaintances with Gertrude Stein, André Lhote, Jean Lurçat, Josef Šíma, Václav Vytlačil, and Albert Gleizes.

Katherine Sophie Dreier became his patron briefly from 1925 to 1926, which came to a premature end mainly due to petty disagreements and Matulka's general lack of social grace, ranging from tardiness to tantrums.

The clientele of the gallery wanted more conservative and representational works so Matulka complied because he needed the income.

In 1928 he began drawing from the model when he started meeting with the Society of Independent Artists, while contributing illustrations to the socialist Dělník Kalendar.

With help from Max Weber and Václav Vytlačil Matulka landed a teaching job at the Art Students League of New York, his first salaried position.

Šíma stored all Matulka's paintings and other works left in the studio, eventually transporting them to his own house in Fontainebleau, where unfortunately these things did not survive World War II.

The Global Modernist: A touring exhibition organized with the estate of Jan Matulka and the Montclair Art Museum.