SURREALISTICKÁ KRAJINA S PTÁKY

SURREALIST LANDSCAPE WITH BIRDS

Toyen – An Icon of Czech and International Surrealism Toyen, born Marie Čermínová, is one of the most distinctive figures of Czech modern art and an internationally recognised representative of Surrealism. Her work transcended the boundaries of conventional painting, creating a highly personal universe of imagination, mystery, erotic symbolism and dreamlike visions. Born in Prague in 1902, she became involved in the Czech avant-garde at an early age. Her artistic development was profoundly influenced by her relationship with the painter Jindřich Štyrský, with whom she formed an exceptional creative partnership. Together, they developed Artificialism, an original artistic movement devoted to the expression of imagination and inner visions through painting. Toyen was associated with the avant-garde group Devětsil and later became a founding member of the Czech Surrealist Group. Her art increasingly moved beyond visible reality towards fantastic landscapes, mysterious beings, unexpected symbols and visions situated between dreams and the subconscious. Paris became a defining chapter in her life. After settling there permanently in 1947, she participated actively in the French Surrealist movement and maintained close ties with André Breton, one of the movement's most influential figures. Throughout her career, Toyen developed an unmistakable artistic language. Her images frequently resemble fragments of unknown stories in which familiar objects become mysterious signs and natural forms acquire entirely new meanings. Today, her work is represented in prestigious museum and private collections. Major international exhibitions have confirmed her position among the most remarkable figures of twentieth-century European avant-garde art. ARTWORK DESCRIPTION Surrealist Landscape with Birds – A Mysterious World Between Dream and Reality This remarkable composition attributed to Toyen opens a gateway into a world where the conventional laws of space, scale and nature appear to dissolve. At the centre rises a fantastic mountain formation with a tall, sharply pointed summit. Its steep slopes, rendered in delicate shades of grey and greenish blue, evoke a mountain massif, a glacier and an unusual organic structure emerging from an unknown landscape. On the left appears a small bluish bird, its body and wing stylised into an almost fairy-tale form. The right side, by contrast, is dominated by a monumental white bird with a striking red beak and a sharply defined eye. Its body dissolves into flowing lines that may suggest wings, streams of water or currents of air. This fascinating visual transformation seems to unite the living creature with the surrounding landscape. The colour palette is exceptionally refined. Subtle shades of grey, cream, pale blue and green are enlivened by the vivid red accent of the bird's beak. Dark outlines lend graphic precision to the composition and emphasise its dreamlike, symbolic character. Particularly intriguing are the small black and white marks near the bird's beak. They may evoke droplets, seeds, traces or unknown symbols whose meaning remains open to interpretation. The composition presents an imaginative world in which nature becomes a vessel of mystery and every form may conceal another, unexpected significance. The work bears the signature “Toyen” at the lower right and is presented in an elegant black frame with a gold-coloured mount. HISTORICAL DOCUMENTATION AND PROVENANCE The Paris Connection – Toyen, André Breton and the Edmond Bomsel Collection An especially interesting feature of this offering is the accompanying French document entitled Documentation d’œuvre – Notice historique, dated Paris, 15 August 2012. The document includes a photographic reproduction of the framed work and describes its composition as an imaginary landscape featuring a mountainous formation and a stylised bird. It also records the signature “Toyen” in the lower right corner. Of particular interest is the reference to a handwritten label on the reverse bearing Toyen's name and an address on Rue des Fossés-Saint-Jacques in Paris. The document notes that 12, rue des Fossés-Saint-Jacques, Paris 5e is also mentioned in a letter from Toyen to Jacques Géry dated 9 June 1951. This detail links the recorded history of the work to the Parisian environment in which Toyen lived and worked after leaving Czechoslovakia. Even more intriguing is the stated provenance from the collection of Edmond Bomsel, a French art collector associated with André Breton and the Parisian Surrealist circle. According to family testimony cited in the document, the work reportedly belonged to Edmond Bomsel, whose residence was at 12, rue René-Aubert in Versailles. The historical document therefore provides an interesting account of the work's possible connection to the French Surrealist milieu and its reported collecting history. According to its concluding statement, the document was prepared on the basis of photographic and documentary materials supplied for examination. Present provenance: Extensive private collection. CURATOR'S TIP Toyen remains one of the most distinctive and compelling figures of European Surrealism. Her visual universe is fascinating precisely because it never offers only one interpretation. The present composition is particularly striking for its unusual combination of a mountainous landscape and fantastic bird-like creatures. The imagery appears both delicate and unsettling, creating the atmosphere of a mysterious world beyond ordinary reality. The contrast between the monumental white bird and the smaller bluish creature deserves particular attention. Their relationship invites symbolic interpretation and gives the composition an intriguing internal tension. The accompanying French documentation dated 2012 is another noteworthy feature. Its references to Toyen's Parisian address and the collection of Edmond Bomsel provide an interesting historical lead for serious collectors and researchers of Surrealist art. We particularly recommend this work to collectors of Czech and European avant-garde art, Surrealism and imaginative works on paper. FOR INVESTORS Toyen is among the most internationally significant Czech artists represented on the global art market. Her works attract the attention of both domestic and international collectors and occupy an important place in the history of European Surrealism. The present composition is notable for its characteristic Surrealist imagery, refined colour palette, distinctive stylisation and signature “Toyen”. A significant aspect of its collecting interest is the French historical and provenance documentation dated 2012, recording a connection with Toyen's Parisian address and reporting former ownership by the French collector Edmond Bomsel, associated with André Breton's circle. For collectors of Surrealist art, this recorded historical connection adds an intriguing dimension and provides valuable material for further scholarly investigation. The starting price of CZK 650,000 offers an opportunity to pursue a remarkable Surrealist composition attributed to one of the leading figures of the Czech avant-garde, accompanied by French historical documentation and an intriguing provenance narrative.