Certified graphic print, 50 x 65 cm. Numbered, certificate, Star Museum handmade paper. Signed bottom right Toyen. Blind-stamped seal: Shakespeare Arts LTD. The number of the specific graphic print may differ from the image shown.
About the author:
Toyen, real name Marie Čermínová (1902 – 1980), was a Czech painter and graphic artist, one of the most important figures in Czech surrealism – although she spent most of her life in Paris. She was an independent and unique artist and woman in Czech and world art of the 20th century. She defied societal conventions with her bohemian lifestyle, and through her work, she opposed bourgeoisie and hypocrisy in art and society. She refused to accept the then-prevailing concept of a woman's role and considered herself equal to men, not only in her art but also in her personal life. Her work is characterized by originality and precise execution. Her lifelong friendship with the painter, writer, and photographer Jindřich Štyrský became very significant for her. Together, they joined the avant-garde association of the young Czech generation, the Devětsil Art Union.
Toyen lived for her art; avant-garde art was a means for her to free herself from the conventions of contemporary life. She was also a free spirit in her perception of sexuality, which she approached very openly and unusually. She began painting her erotic drawings and paintings in the second half of the 1920s, when Czech society considered such art to be decadent pornography.
