Toyen | |
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 Toyen in 1930 | |
| Born | Marie Čermínová (1902-09-21)21 September 1902 |
| Died | 9 November 1980(1980-11-09) (aged 78) Paris, France |
| Resting place | Batignolles Cemetery,Paris, France |
| Education | Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague |
| Occupations | |
| Partner | Jindřich Štyrský |
| Signature | |
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Toyen (bornMarie Čermínová; 21 September 1902 – 9 November 1980) was a Czechpainter,drafter, andillustrator and a member of thesurrealist movement.
In 1923, the artist adopted the professional pseudonym Toyen. The name Toyen has been suggested to be derived from the French word 'citoyen,' meaning citizen, but it has also been proposed to be a play on theCzech expression ‘to je on’ (‘it is he’).[1][2][3] Toyen favored this gender-neutralmononym (in Czech thefamily name is gendered, with women's names ending in "ová") and would speak the language in the masculine singular form.[4]Vítězslav Nezval wrote that Toyen "refused... to use the feminine endings" when speaking in the first person.[5]
Toyen left the family home at sixteen, and it has been speculated it was due to sympathy towards anarchism.[6]
In the early 1920s, Toyen resided in Smichov with their older sister, Zdena Svobodova, whose husband worked for the railroad. Though the artist presented themself as a lone wolf, family was located nearby and they could visit with their mother whenever they wished, though visits were scarce. In 1940, Toyen and their sister each inherited split custody of their mother’s home until Zdena’s death in 1945, then the property became divided between Toyen and the widower.[7]
From 1919 to 1920, Toyen attendedUMPRUM (Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design) in Prague to study the decorative arts.[5] They worked closely with fellow Surrealistpoet and artistJindřich Štyrský until Štyrský's death.
Toyen joined the Czech avant-gardeDevětsil group in 1923 and exhibited with them. The group had strong international connections, especially but not only to French culture. Some of the other members of this very large group included: artist and writer Jindřich Štyrský, future Nobel prizewinning poetJaroslav Seifert, the constructivist architectural theoristKarel Teige, and the poetFrantišek Halas. In the early 1920s Toyen traveled to Paris, and soon returned there with Štyrský to live. While living in Paris, the two founded an artistic alternative to Abstraction and Surrealism, which they dubbedArtificialism. Artificialism was defined by Toyen and Štyrský in a leaflet for an exhibition as "The identification of the painter with the poet," where the artist creates poetry without using language.[5] The two would return to Prague in 1928.
Toyen's sketches, book illustrations, and paintings were frequentlyerotic. They had an interest in erotic humor, combining themes of both pleasure and pain. Their imagery often featured disembodied female figures as well as parts of male bodies like genitalia.[1] Their book illustrations often featured female faces.
Toyen contributed erotic sketches for Štyrský's Erotická Revue (1930–33). This journal was published on strict subscription terms based on a circulation of 150 copies. Štyrský also published books under the imprint Edice 69, some of which Toyen illustrated. For example, Toyen illustrated theMarquis de Sade'sJustine. Also of note, they contributed pieces inDie Frau als Künstlerin, Woman as an Artist, the prestigious 1928 survey of women artists in Western civilization.
Toyen's output of over 500 illustrated books includes, for example,The Purple Land by W. H. Hudson andCharles Vildrac'sL'lle rose, both from 1930.[4]
After their associatesVítězslav Nezval andJindřich Honzl metAndré Breton in Paris, in March 1934 Toyen and Štyrský joined them in founding theCzech Surrealist Group along with other artists, writers, and thecomposerJaroslav Ježek. When the surrealist poetsMary Stanley Low and Juan Breá lived in Prague, they became acquaintances of Toyen and the other Czech surrealists.[8]
Forced underground during the Nazi occupation andSecond World War, Toyen sheltered their second artistic partner,Jindřich Heisler, a poet of Jewish descent who had joined the Czech Surrealist Group in 1938. The two permanently relocated to Paris in 1947, before theCommunist takeover ofCzechoslovakia in 1948, and joined the Parisian Surrealists. In Paris, Toyen worked withAndré Breton,Benjamin Péret and other surrealists such asAnnie Le Brun. Toyen would continue to collaborate with surrealist-affiliated poets and other writers but soon ceased working for commercial publishers in Czechoslovakia.
Toyen's artistic identity involved significant attention to gender issues and sexual politics. It has been suggested that this would have been difficult considering the surrealist movement was male-dominated and is often regarded as sexist.[9] However, surrealism began to attract many women in the 1930s and became much more gender-balanced as time went by. Breton in particular admired Toyen and the artist was close to both Breton and his third wife, Elisa.
Toyen wasassigned female at birth, but appears to have preferred a less-gendered identification. Some people compare Toyen with "other Surrealist women" such asClaude Cahun,Leonora Carrington, and a handful of others.[10] Cahun examined the fluidity of gender roles, which was also true of Toyen. Toyen often dressed in masculine-style clothing and preferred masculine signifiers,[3] choosing a non-conformist position when it came to gender and sexuality, themes heavily mined in Surrealist art.[7] The act of cross-dressing was a tool used by Toyen and woman artists at the time to overcome institutionalized and cultural sexism. By doing so, they embodied the role of the active protagonist, a role reserved traditionally for men. Toyen, along with women of the avant-garde movement such as Natalia Goncharova and Zinaida Gippius called these boundaries to light, then actively transcended them by adopting masculine attributes.[11]
The artist often addressed gender and sexuality in humorous and fantasy-erotic illustrations. Toyen has been theorized by Malynne Sternstein as "hypersexualized."[9]
The surrealists believed that humans are sexual beings, and many surrealists linked sexuality to artistic creativity. Some surrealists deemed sexuality to be central, with genitalia as the center of vitality.[12]
Toyen expressed interest in lesbian sexuality along with many other forms of sexual expression, but it is unknown what the artist's personal sexual activity actually included. Toyen's two major artistic partnerships were with men, but it is not known whether these included sexual contact. According to Huebner, it is best to see Toyen as queer and not attempt to categorize the artist's sexuality or gender.[5]
Toyen has been described as presenting in an "ambiguously gendered" manner due to alternately wearing skirts and more masculine-styled attire. Toyen's contemporaries reported Toyen as walking in an unfeminine way and asserting that they were attracted to women.[4]
Asteroid (4691) Toyen is named in their honor.[13]
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