Toyen
Without Traces
Artist
Toyen
(1902, Praha - 1980, Paris), Czech
Original Title
Without Traces
Date1955
Mediumoil on canvas
Dimensions 79 × 94 cm
Classificationspaintings
Credit LineKunsthalle Praha
DescriptionToyen (born Marie Čermínová; 1902, Prague – 1980, Paris) was a prominent artist of the Czechoslovak artistic avantgarde and an important figure in the context of the international surrealist movement. She primarily gained recognition for her painterly work, defined by a marked sensibility for the materiality of color and by the unconventional color palettes of her canvases. In the second half of the 1920s, Toyen also began working with illustration, which represents a prominent and autonomous segment of her oeuvre; she most commonly created illustrations for children’s books and erotic publications (see, for instance, her contributions to Erotic Revue and Edition 69). She also achieved recognition for her wartime drawing series Firing Range (1939–1940) and Hide, War! (1941–1945). During the early stages of her career in the first half of the 1920s, her work was primarily influenced by synthetic cubism, primitivism, and purism, which instigated a flattening of the image and a tendency toward abstraction. These works were also often marked by a primitivizing style and an emphasis on provocative erotic motifs. Other prominent themes included circus and variety shows, evidencing a focus on the sensuous and visual experiences of the surrounding world. In the second half of the 1920s, Toyen’s artistic style developed according to the ideas of artificialism, producing pictorial poems meant to represent an artistic poetry which could not be expressed verbally. This form of expression can be understood as unique reaction to and dialogue with the contemporary abstract and surrealist tendencies of the Parisian art scene. Simultaneously, it betrays a loose affiliation with the aesthetics of Poetism, developed by the Devětsil Artistic Federation, of which Toyen was a member alongside her artistic partner Jindřich Štyrský. Her return from Paris to Czechoslovakia was followed by a gradual transformation of her work. During the late 1920s, experimentation led her to use heavy layers of paint and darker, more structured brushstrokes, in many ways foreshadowing the rise of art informel. The following decade saw Toyen’s art develop toward more surrealist tendencies, initially combined with her artificialist style. In 1934, she departed from her focus on natural motives and began working with figural fragments. These new works demonstrated a new approach to painting, exploring the realm of deep feelings. This transition also saw Toyen abandon experimentation in favor of oil painting and an effort to capture the physical substance of materials. From 1936 onward, her surrealist approach shifted toward what was termed “objective suprareality” and “concrete irrationality”, which facilitated the flow of uninhibited artistic imagination. Her work explored various states and layers of consciousness, as well as motifs indirectly thematizing her personality and secrets from her childhood. Her inclination toward poetic feeling and imagination was reflected in her close ties with poets, who often chose the titles of her paintings. During the late 1930s, Toyen’s work came to convey a grim atmosphere and an anticipation of the war and an aversion for the inhumane aspects of the Nazi and Soviet ideologies. Toyen continued to engage with surrealism after World War II, leaving Czechoslovakia for France in 1947. Her creative expression remained in constant flux without losing touch with the distinctive, ambivalent symbolism of pre-war surrealism. Her new work, shaped by her new connection with nature, became defined by the duality of concrete and abstract morphologies. The concept of womanhood became a frequent focus, often thematized via beasts and birds of prey, which became more prominent than human figures. The rawness and force of Toyen’s previous work was transformed into a fluid, glazy style employing artistic devices in their sublimated form. These new works were also marked by a sensuous use of color and by the haptic sensibility of the painting’s surface. In the last decade of her life, Toyen almost exclusively focused on creating intimate collages and graphic works, still drawing on her distinctive pictorial style.
This magical canvas titled Without Traces (1955) represents Toyen’s post-war work and exemplifies her new interests in terms of both content and form, which she developed after a period of experimentation following her emigration from Czechoslovakia. The painting evidences a greater emphasis on the sensuous qualities of color and shape, as well as an accentuation of symmetry and frontal perspective. The intricate composition conveys her strong connection with forests and nature, as well as a new focus on symbols as reflections of reality and an interest in working with duplicated motifs. Toyen thus explored the possibilities of portraying reality in an abstract manner, an aim influenced by the post-war interest of André Breton and the Surrealist Group of Paris in Gallic art, which was regarded as exemplifying a departure from antiquity and mimetic representation. Simultaneously, this piece evidences an intuitive affiliation with contemporary abstract tendencies. However, Toyen maintained a distance from such currents and never transcended the boundaries of figurative representation. The painting is defined by its monochromatic color palette, which typified one of the trajectories of her later painterly work. The shapes portrayed emerging from the dark are rendered in surprisingly luminous, saturated tones of blue and green.
Toyen (1902, Prague – 1980, Paris) studied under Emanuel Dítě at the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design from 1919 to 1922. A crucial milestone in her subsequent artistic development came in 1922, when she met Jindřich Štyrský with whom she would form an inseparable artistic partnership until his death in 1942, engaging each other in stimulating creative dialogue. In 1923, they both became members of the Devětsil Artistic Federation, gaining initial recognition at the legendary exhibition Bazar moderního umění (Bazaar of Modern Art; 1923). Toyen and Štyrský lived in Paris between 1925 and 1928, where they developed a style of painting termed artificialism, presenting their work at several Paris-based exhibitions (e.g., Galerie d’Art Contemporain, 1926; Galerie Vavin, 1927) and developing ties with artists from the local surrealist scene. Toyen first showcased her new surrealist work at the exhibition Poesie 1932 at Prague’s Mánes Exhibition Hall, which presented Czech and French artists side by side and foreshadowed the general shift of the Czech art scene toward surrealism. In 1934, she became a founding member of the Surrealist Group of Czechoslovakia, which closely collaborated with the Surrealist Group of Paris. The following year, Toyen and Štyrský visited Paris after having developed deeper ties with André Breton and Paul Éluard during their visit to Prague in the previous year. By embracing surrealism, both Czech artists became part of the international surrealist movement. During World War I, Toyen was forced into seclusion. She presented her works from the wartime period in a 1945 exhibition at the Topič Salon in Prague, significantly influencing the upcoming generation of artists. Due to the worsening political situation in Czechoslovakia, Toyen emigrated to France in 1947 with Jindřich Heisler, both becoming part of the Surrealist Group of Paris. During this post-war period, she maintained close ties with André Breton and several surrealist poets, partaking in all the activities and exhibitions of the Surrealist Group of Paris while also having a few solo exhibitions. In 1982, the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris held a retrospective exhibition of Toyen, Štyrský, and Heisler’s work. In 2002, the Musée d'Art Moderne de Saint-Etienne hosted the first retrospective focused solely on Toyen’s work. Her latest international retrospective, titled Toyen: The Dreaming Rebel, showed at the National Gallery Prague, the Hamburger Kunsthalle, and the Musée d´Art Moderne de Paris during 2021 and 2022. Her work is held in the collections of the National Gallery Prague, the Moravian Gallery in Brno, and other collections in the Czech Republic, as well as collections of international institutions such as the Galleria Nazionale d´Arte Moderna in Rome, Kunstmuseum Bochum, the Moderna Museet in Stockholm, the Musée d´Art et d´Histoire de Saint-Denis, the Musée d´Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, and the Musée National d´Art Moderne – Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris.
This magical canvas titled Without Traces (1955) represents Toyen’s post-war work and exemplifies her new interests in terms of both content and form, which she developed after a period of experimentation following her emigration from Czechoslovakia. The painting evidences a greater emphasis on the sensuous qualities of color and shape, as well as an accentuation of symmetry and frontal perspective. The intricate composition conveys her strong connection with forests and nature, as well as a new focus on symbols as reflections of reality and an interest in working with duplicated motifs. Toyen thus explored the possibilities of portraying reality in an abstract manner, an aim influenced by the post-war interest of André Breton and the Surrealist Group of Paris in Gallic art, which was regarded as exemplifying a departure from antiquity and mimetic representation. Simultaneously, this piece evidences an intuitive affiliation with contemporary abstract tendencies. However, Toyen maintained a distance from such currents and never transcended the boundaries of figurative representation. The painting is defined by its monochromatic color palette, which typified one of the trajectories of her later painterly work. The shapes portrayed emerging from the dark are rendered in surprisingly luminous, saturated tones of blue and green.
Toyen (1902, Prague – 1980, Paris) studied under Emanuel Dítě at the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design from 1919 to 1922. A crucial milestone in her subsequent artistic development came in 1922, when she met Jindřich Štyrský with whom she would form an inseparable artistic partnership until his death in 1942, engaging each other in stimulating creative dialogue. In 1923, they both became members of the Devětsil Artistic Federation, gaining initial recognition at the legendary exhibition Bazar moderního umění (Bazaar of Modern Art; 1923). Toyen and Štyrský lived in Paris between 1925 and 1928, where they developed a style of painting termed artificialism, presenting their work at several Paris-based exhibitions (e.g., Galerie d’Art Contemporain, 1926; Galerie Vavin, 1927) and developing ties with artists from the local surrealist scene. Toyen first showcased her new surrealist work at the exhibition Poesie 1932 at Prague’s Mánes Exhibition Hall, which presented Czech and French artists side by side and foreshadowed the general shift of the Czech art scene toward surrealism. In 1934, she became a founding member of the Surrealist Group of Czechoslovakia, which closely collaborated with the Surrealist Group of Paris. The following year, Toyen and Štyrský visited Paris after having developed deeper ties with André Breton and Paul Éluard during their visit to Prague in the previous year. By embracing surrealism, both Czech artists became part of the international surrealist movement. During World War I, Toyen was forced into seclusion. She presented her works from the wartime period in a 1945 exhibition at the Topič Salon in Prague, significantly influencing the upcoming generation of artists. Due to the worsening political situation in Czechoslovakia, Toyen emigrated to France in 1947 with Jindřich Heisler, both becoming part of the Surrealist Group of Paris. During this post-war period, she maintained close ties with André Breton and several surrealist poets, partaking in all the activities and exhibitions of the Surrealist Group of Paris while also having a few solo exhibitions. In 1982, the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris held a retrospective exhibition of Toyen, Štyrský, and Heisler’s work. In 2002, the Musée d'Art Moderne de Saint-Etienne hosted the first retrospective focused solely on Toyen’s work. Her latest international retrospective, titled Toyen: The Dreaming Rebel, showed at the National Gallery Prague, the Hamburger Kunsthalle, and the Musée d´Art Moderne de Paris during 2021 and 2022. Her work is held in the collections of the National Gallery Prague, the Moravian Gallery in Brno, and other collections in the Czech Republic, as well as collections of international institutions such as the Galleria Nazionale d´Arte Moderna in Rome, Kunstmuseum Bochum, the Moderna Museet in Stockholm, the Musée d´Art et d´Histoire de Saint-Denis, the Musée d´Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, and the Musée National d´Art Moderne – Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris.
