Lot 140: Toyen (Marie Cerminova), (1902 – 1980), Circus, 1925

Name: Toyen (Marie Cerminova), (1902 – 1980), Circus, 1925
Brand: Adolf Loos Apartment and Gallery
SKU: 1d645ea9da
Price: 23000000 CZK

Est: Kč35,000,000 CZK - Kč55,000,000 CZKSold:

Adolf Loos Apartment and GalleryPraha, Czech RepublicApril 18, 2021

Item Overview

Description

oil on canvas
90 x 90 cm
signed lower right: Toyen
Provenance:
– private collection of Toyen
– private collection, Prague
– private collection of a recognised Czech framer since 1946
– auction Prague, 23rd June 2011 (sold for then record-breaking 2.46m CZK)
– significant private collection, Prague
Exhibited:
- L’art d’aujourd ́hui, La chambre syndicale et des Beaux arts, Paris, December 1925 (No. 223)
- Styrsky et Toyen, Galerii d’Art contemporain,135 Boulevard Raspail, 27. 11.–10. 12. 1926 (No. 48)
Publicated:
– Karel Srp, Magicky vek (The Magic Age) Adolf Loos Apartment and Gallery, Praha 2021, reproduced on the front cover and p. 5, 6,1 4, 17

The present work is one of the most important and beautiful works the painter ever created, attributed significant value by Toyen herself. In many ways, it reflects both its age and Toyen’s painterly approach during her first trip to Paris. The importance of this work is also evidenced by its recent inclusion and front cover feature in Karel Srp’s The Magic Age, a publication focused on Toyen and Styrsky’s early career in France. The world-renowned painter Toyen (born Marie Cerminova) was one of the most important and daring painters of the early 20th century avantgarde. As a founding member of the Surrealist Group in Czechoslovakia, she gave up her maiden name in 1922. Her now famous pseudonym was created by her friend and poet Josef Seifert during one of their visits to the National Cafe. Her acceptance of this new artistic name can be understood as both part of her lifelong struggle against authority and conventions, but also a denial of the traditional female role attributed to her. Her work is known for its brilliant originality and precision, as well as its ability to incite a strong sense of anxiety and anticipation.
The objects she tackles open up the way into our subconscious, our dreams and fantasies. Her paintings question the audience, who feel compelled to search for answers even though there aren‘t any clear ones. Dr Karel Srp writes for the painting Circus, among others: In 1923, Toyen joined the artistic group Devetsil, which founded poetism, the Czech version of surrealism, which fused modern painting with poetry. Her most important years were spent beside the painter Jindrich Styrsky, who was her artistic partner for nearly twenty years. The two artists left for Paris together, where they founded a new artistic movement called artificialism in 1925.
Artificialism was unique in many ways, particularly for being founded by two artists who had no desire for anyone else to join them. The works featured a reversed perspective that aimed to maximise one’s imagination. Artificialism strived for the identification of a painter with a poet and refused to approach painting as a simple game with forms and shapes. The focus was on poetry, which completed the space inbetween the paintings’ forms. The resulting paintings were abstract colourful compositions, with metamorphosing shapes, structures and thick layers of paint. In 1931, looking back at this time, Vitezslav Nezval concluded that Styrský a Toyen ‘felt compelled to reject convention and announce their own movement, all the while knowing they wouldn’t want to enslave themselves in the future.’ L’art d ́aujourd ́hui (Art Now, December 1925) In the second half of 1924 and the first half of 1925, Toyen connected back with her temporarily broken strain of work by painting Circus. It covered the temporary presence of neoprimitivism in her work, which she later tried to conceal by amending the order and timeline of her exhibited works at Galerii d’Art contemporain in December 1926.
This painting was first exhibited at the renowned exhibition L’art d’aujourd ́hui in Paris, alongside her painting The Harbour (currently part of the permanent collection of the National Museum of Modern Art, Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris). Both the paintings personify the transition from her work in the early 20s into the subsequent artificialism. In December 1925, Czech press summarised this as follows: ‘On Monday morning, an international exhibition of contemporary art was opened in Paris, inclusive of approximately 300 works of modern art, largely derived from Cubism. Czechoslovakia is represented by Sima, Styrsky a Toyen.’ The exhibition L’art d’aujourd ́hui was opened on 1st December 1926 at La chambre syndicale et des Beaux arts. It was an extraordinary event that brought together a number of international artists, largely living in Paris, but coming from 24 different countries. It was one of the largest exhibitions of its kind that took place in Paris in the interwar years, following the autumn exhibition La Peinture Surréaliste at Galerii Pierre. It clearly showed a disdain for the well-known annual international exhibition of decorative arts in Paris. It took years to clearly identify this work. It transpired that the painting Circus, listed in the joint monograph of Toyen’s and Styrsky from 1938, was in fact originally titled Clowns by the artist, who also inscribed this on the canvas’s reverse.
The first owner of this work was Toyen’s sister Zdena Svobodová. For a long time, this work from the L’art d’aujourd ́hui exhibition was confused with the painting Circus Conrado, but this was clearly not aligned with its alleged monumental counterpiece The Harbour, which was exhibited at the exhibition. We can only deduce that the work exhibited at L’art d’aujourd ́hui was in fact a different work, more expressive of Toyen’s oeuvre around 1925. Given the clear visual resemblance to Harbour, it is likely a square painting with a circular composition, the title or year of which have not been preserved, which is the Circus. It is likely that Toyen wanted to showcase her best work and paintings that complimented each other at an exhibition of such an importance as L’art d’aujourd ́hui, attended even by Pablo Picasso.
Circus The technique used in painting Circus is unique in its own right. Toyen placed all the action inside the red circular stage, full of references to jongleurs, trapezists, tightrope walkers, open fans and umbrellas, but completely devoid of any figures as such - these would be out of place at an exhibition devoted to abstraction. In Circus Conrado, the flurry of activity was captured on the surface of the circus’ stage, whereas in this work it is all captured within. Toyen was interested in circular compositions indebted to Renaissance throughout her entire career. The circular painting, later titled Circus is an extraordinarily well handled, with various visual planes interjecting, and fragmented objects approach abstraction. Toyen composed the painting like a children’s lego composed of intersecting diagonals, circles, orthogonal planes, horizontal and vertical lines. Circus is a smart composition of various parts, skilfluly put together to create an impressive whole. In the first half of the 1920s, Devetsil placed much emphasis on folk festivities, often deriving characters for their works from circus and comedia dell’arte. Acrobats and clowns were particularly popular as painterly subjects. During her trip to Paris, Toyen was mostly interested in the circus, variety shows and street performances of various comedians. The circus atmosphere offered young artists many opportunities for dramatic spatial compositions.
Circus performers appeared in numerous works of art and literature. Jaroslav Seifert’s poem Miss Gada – Nigi, published in Disc (1923) and devoted to a trapeze artist is such an example: ‘...Miss Gada – Nigi sits on a trapeze/ and below in the sand, the clown falls asleep like a bird’. Karel Teige was also intrigued by trapeze artists: ‘The performance of trapeze artists is like a harmonious poem, one that denies gravity’. Other characters from comedia dell’arte enjoyed similar popularity during the first half of the 1920s. However, in the second half of the 1920s they were replaced by symbolic figures, personifying the painter, mankind’s destiny, as well as the future of Europe – this is well captured in Vítězslav Nezval’s poetic work Acrobat, 1927 dedicated to Vladislav Vančura, presumably as an answer to his introduction to Summer of Caprice.
The paintings devoted to circus reflected Teige’s words: ‘clowns, dancers, acrobats, and tourists are poets of modern times’. Styrsky and Toyen’s interest in this subject was concluded by the paintings The Acrobat, 1925 and The Trapeze, 1926, both of which were included at their first joint public presentation at the Galerie d’art contemporain. The faith of the masterpiece Circus has been unknown for nearly fifty years. The painting was hidden away in a private collection of a framer, based in Prague, who acquired the work in 1946 when he was searching for old frames for his own painting in an antique store. This painting was offered to him by an art dealer, along with a number of other works, none of which he held in a high regard.

The expertises by Dr Karel Srp and Professor Jaromir Zemina attached.
Consulted with and authenticated by Dr Karel Srp,Professor Jaromir Zemina, Dr Jiri Machalicky, Aneta Kopecka and Vladimir Lekes. Restorer’s report written by Zora Grohmanova and Tomas Berger attached.
A special thanks is due to the renowned art expert, author of Toyen’s catalogue raisonné, and a curator of Toyen’s exhibitions worldwide, Dr Karel Srp, who correctly recognised Circus and identi- fied it for posterity.
The painting has been requested to the upcoming exhibition Grenzen in der Kunst. Tschechische Kunst in drei Generation at the prestigious Museum Kunstforum Ostdeutsche Galerie Regensburg between May 21, 2021 till August 15, 2021. This exhibition is orga- nised under the leadership of the art historian Dr Agnes Tieze, who previously curated the exhibition Oskar Kokoschka und die Prager Kulturszene that opened in Regensburg and subsequently toured to Prague‘s National Gallery between 2014–2015.

Artist or Maker

Marie Toyen

Payment & Shipping

Accepted forms of payment: Wire Transfer

Shipping

Auction House will ship, at Buyer's expense.

Auction Details

Fine Art Auction (by Adolf Loos Apartment and Gallery)

Adolf Loos Apartment and Gallery

April 18, 2021, 02:00 PM CET

U Starého hrbitova 40/6 Praha 1 - Josefov, Praha, 11000, CZ

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Buyer's Premium

Kč0 - 49,999:26.0%

Kč50,000 - 99,999:26.0%

Kč100,000 - 999,999:26.0%

Kč1,000,000 - 4,999,999:26.0%

Kč5,000,000+:26.0%

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From:	To:	Increment:
Kč0	Kč49,999	Kč1,000
Kč50,000	Kč99,999	Kč5,000
Kč100,000	Kč999,999	Kč10,000
Kč1,000,000	Kč4,999,999	Kč50,000
Kč5,000,000	Kč9,999,999	Kč100,000
Kč10,000,000+		Kč250,000

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SUCCESSFUL BIDDER (BUYER)
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Hammer Price
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VII.
OPTIONAL SERVICES - FINAL PROVISIONS
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2. The estimate, professional expertise and auction item identification and description is provided by experts contracted by the Auctioneer. Only damage that has a bearing on the artistic value of the auctioned item is disclosed by the auction catalogue. All clients have an equal opportunity to view the auction items prior to auction, at the pre-auction exhibition. Any complaints regarding the price, quality, condition and functionality of the auctioned items will not be taken into account after the end of the bidding. Given the character and nature of the auctioned items (artwork), the Successful Bidder is waiving its rights from defective performances within the meaning of Sec. 1916 of the Civil Code (Act No. 89/2012 Coll.) when they make the bid by which they are subsequently awarded the given item.
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4. The Auction House can advise on and organise shipping of sold lots at the cost of the Buyer. The Auction House is not liable should permanent export of any sold lot be prevented by the Czech authorities due to current governing laws.
5. Any and all statements and representations in the auction catalogue concerning attributed qualities, origin, date, age, provenience, condition, minimum bid, or estimated amount of the successful bid are strictly an expression of the opinions of the Auction House. The Auction House reserves the right to consult experts or official institutions of any kind which it considers adequate and competent so as to form its own opinion, and to follow their advice.
6. Notices of any kind made by the Auction House towards BC Members or the Seller shall primarily be sent to the e-mail address of the BC Member's or Seller's choice; if no e-mail address was given, then notices will be sent via regular mail, though delivery by other demonstrable means into the hands of the addressee is also permissible. Notices of any kind are deemed delivered on the fifth day from the day on which they were dispatched. Money shall be paid in cash or sent via money order into the payee's hands, via transfer from a bank account or other form of cashless transfer; money may also be delivered by other demonstrable means into the hands of the addressee. In the case of cashless transfer, any amount is deemed transferred as of the moment on which it is charged against the payer's account, on the condition that it is subsequently credited to the payee's account.
7. Our experts assign the following meaning to these terms used in the auction catalogue:
signed - signed by the artist's hand
attributed - probably, but not certainly, a work of art by a given artist
studio/workshop - work of art made at a workshop, in a close proximity of the artist school of - work of art created in the style of the master and in the same period
circle of - work of art created in a wider circle of influence of the artist
follower of - work of art created by a follower of the master, can be an imitation or a repetition of a work of art of an unspecified date

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Terms of Payment

5. Once the auction has ended, the Successful Bidder, if they bid in person, must pay the hammer price, plus the auction fee incl. VAT, in cash or - subject to an understanding with the Auction House - by other means of payment (Bank transfer) promptly after the last item has been awarded. The Auction House may grant the Successful Bidder a supplementary period of 10 (ten) working days (unless otherwise agreed in writing during which to pay the hammer price and the auction fee incl. VAT (or, as the case may be, a portion thereof). If the hammer price plus auction fee incl. VAT is not paid within the stipulated time period then the purchase agreement is deemed rescinded, in which case the Successful Bidder must pay the auction fee incl. VAT to the Auction House, plus any and all damage and expenses associated with the frustration of the auction's purpose. Items for which the purchase price was not paid may be auctioned off again in a repeated auction (without prejudice to the owners' rights). No reductions of the hammer price or the auction fee are possible after the fact.
6. Any security deposit which the Successful Bidder paid counts against the hammer price.
7. If a BC Member fails to pay the hammer price and the auction fee incl. VAT in such manner and within such time period as set out above, the Auction House may take the BC Member to court in order to collect the payment of the auction fee incl. VAT and compensation for any and all damage and associated expenses which the Auction House and the owner of the item incurred in connection with the frustration of the purpose of the auction.
8. Auction house does not accept payments by any payment cards and cash over 250,000 CZK.
9. The auctioned items are to be paid for to the bank account of the company Adolf Loos Apartment and Gallery Ltd. at bank: ?SOB. All catalogue prices indicated in Euros are only orientational, are calculated at the rate of exchange (according to the current exchange rate) CZK/EUR, and serve as a guidance to the buyers. These prices will be recalculated in respect of the actual EUR/CZK rate of exchange of the Czech National Bank at the day of the auction. On request, it is possible to pay for all auctioned items in EUR or USD - the final price will be calculated in respect of the current EUR/CZK or USD/CZK rate of exchange of the Czech National Bank.

Buyer's Premium

Buyer's Premium 21%

Shipping Terms

Auction House will ship, at Buyer's expense.

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