Marie Čerminová aka Toyen (1902-1980) was a Czech painter known for his wish to distance himself from femininity. Protesting against the bourgeoisie, the artist changed the name to a gender-neutral pseudonym derived from French ‘citoyen.’ Toyen wore man clothes and maintained a friendship majorly with male surrealists.
Fig. 1. Toyen (pinterest.com)
Early Years
Toyen early separated themself not only from gender but also from the family, of whom they never spoke afterward. Allegedly, they left their home at sixteen because of anarchist views. In 1919-1920, Toyen studied at the Academy of Arts, Architecture, and Design in Prague. There they collaborated with the surrealist poet and artist Jindřich Štyrský until his death. In 1923, Toyen joined the Czech avant-garde group Devětsil (Nineteen). The artist’s early works were influenced by cubism and abstractionism. Together with Štyrský, Toyen moved to Paris, where they founded Artificialism as a movement alternate to Abstraction and Surrealism. This term meant the identification of an artist with a poet. Thus, they regarded paintings as visual poetry. In 1928, they returned to Prague, where Toyen manifested themself as an illustrator of erotic books and magazines.
Fig. 2. Asleep, 1937 (Wikipedia.org)
Fig. 3. Relache, 1943 (all-art.org)
Fig. 4. Čtenářka, 1937 (art.org)
Fig. 5. The Shooting Gallery, 1940 (wikiart.org)
Fig. 6. Kousnuti/The Snap, 1967 (all-art.org)
Fig. 7. The Smile, 1967 (all-art.org)
Fig. 9. Collage (all-art.org)
Fig. 10. Collage (all-art.org)
