Toyen

Poselstvi Lesa [The Message of the Forest]

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About this artwork

The power of nature over the human world is a recurring theme in Toyen’s work which repeatedly centres on barren, dream-like landscapes, featuring lone girls, fragmentary female figures and birds. The interest in these themes originates in illustrations made for children’s books, but this soon took on a more bizarre and sinister appearance. Toyen was careful not to ‘explain’ the work, but instead left the viewer to explore the symbolic meaning. In common with many Surrealists Toyen had a keen interest in the writings of Sigmund Freud, with works seeming to respond to dreams and nightmares; suggesting a world of intense anxiety.

Updated before 2020

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  • artist:
    Toyen (1902 - 1980) Bohemian
  • title:
    Poselstvi Lesa [The Message of the Forest]
  • date created:
    1936
  • materials:
    Oil on canvas
  • measurements:
    160.00 x 129.00 cm; Framed: 172.50 x 140.90 x 6.00 cm; 39.00 kg
  • object type:
  • credit line:
    Purchased with help from the Henry and Sula Walton Fund and Art Fund (with a contribution from The Wolfson Foundation), 2016
  • accession number:
    GMA 5551
  • gallery:
  • subject:
  • glossary:
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Toyen

Toyen