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Le développement

Painting

Author

By (artist) Marie Cerminova, dite Toyen

Description

"As early as 1930-1931 - or just before Hitler's takeover- a whole universe full of cracks was unveiled in Toyen's work. First visible in the iceberg or the egg, it soon spreads right to the innermost forest where the tree, abruptly deprived of its sap, is so damaged that all it can shelter is an owl without eyes (1933-1934). A purely spectral period is born here, where the terror of l'Effroi (1937) is given free rein: one has no difficulty in recognizing the Toyen of this pe-riod in the admirable Dormeuse of 1937. A number of 'collages' also date from this period, all more or less held tightly in the talons of a bird of prey.
The grip of this talon, not about to be relaxed, becomes more detailed and accentuated-as one would expect-in l'Heure dangereuse (1942).
This said, however, the unsettling floating woods, deserted nests and empty cages would soon disappear: oblivion would again see the light of day (who said that the seeds from a single poppy would invade the globe in six years?). An optimism founded on eternal germination is breaking through, producing le Développement (1945) and Devenir de la liberté (1946); but not without continued exploration of the great enigmas: A la table verte (1945), nor yet with the wolf seeming to have eaten his fill: Au château Lacoste (1946)." (André Breton, Le surréalisme et la peinture, Nouvelle édition revue et corrigée, 1928-1965, Paris, Gallimard, 1965, pp.212-213)

Bibliography

- André Breton, Jindrich Heisler, Benjamin Péret, Toyen, Paris, Éditions Sokolova, 1953, rep.p. 60
- André Breton, Le surréalisme et la peinture, Nouvelle édition revue et corrigée, 1928-1965, Paris, Gallimard, 1965, p. 207-213
- Rita Bischof (Herausgegeben und mit einem Essay versehen von), Toyen, Das malerische Werk, Frankfurt am Main, Neue Kritik, 1987, rep.n° 45 (première version), rep.p. 139

Creation date1945
LanguagesFrench
Physical description46 x 52,3 cm (18 1/8 x 20 5/8 in.) - Huile sur toile
Copyright© ADAGP, Paris, 2005.
Reference2216000
Breton Auction, 2003Lot 4421
Keywords
CategoriesModern Paintings
Set[Exhibitions] 1991, boîte archives bleue, Beaubourg, [Archives] Surréalistes tchèques
ExhibitionsExposition Toyen , André Breton, La Beauté convulsive
Permanent linkhttps://www.andrebreton.fr/en/work/56600100037560
Exhibition place

See also

1 Work
 
False

À l'arbre d'or

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Marie Cerminova, dite Toyen

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Huile sur toile de l'artiste tchèque Toyen datée de 1951.
Une image, une notice descriptive, une bibliographie, des expositions.

[Exhibitions] 1991, boîte archives bleue, Beaubourg, [Archives] Surréalistes tchèques