Dve Pritelkyne, Two Girlfriends, 1925

In 1925, Toyen, something of a dream artist but not yet a formal surrealist, visited Paris. From her childhood, she'd drawn erotica; in Paris she had a field day, sketching (and possibly participating in) sex shows and orgies. She said she liked women, but based on her art she seems quite pansexual.

She put her Paris experience to good use. Alongside fine art, she became a prolific (and excellent) book illustrator; all the way from kids' books to erotica. The two examples shown here are a raw sketch from Paris, "Two Girlfriends", and a book illustration, the frontispiece to Pybrac by Pierre Louÿs.

She fused her interest in dreams and sex only once that I know of, in The Dreamer, 1930.

What stands out for me in all her erotic work--from life, from dreams, from fiction--is that everyone's playful, affectionate... and having a good time.

It had poltical consequences. She couldn't abide either the Nazis or the Communists--killjoys and rulemakers of right and left--and Czechoslovakia was invaded by each.

Toyen survived both occupations, went back to Paris... and lived in the City of Light for the rest of her long life.

SOURCE: Magnetic Woman: Toyen and the Surrealist Erotic by Karla Huebner, 2020, pp.76, 132, 133.

Frontispiece for Pybrac by Pierre Louÿs, 1932.

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