Sometimes you get lucky. A good friend told me about this now sold out “Toyen: The Dreaming Rebel” show in Prague a few weeks ago. But work intervened and I never got around to booking my ticket So it was a lucky coincidence that another friend happened to have a spare ticket and was able to connect with me 15 minutes before the timed entry. Sometimes you get rewarded for saying “yes” quickly. I am certainly glad I did.

SO, WHO IS TOYEN?

Even as a Czech art enthusiast, I had a very incomplete picture of the artist’s work, mostly limited to a few of her surrealist, mysterious paintings. As someone who gravitates towards contemporary art and photography, I wasn’t sure this show would be something I would like. I stand corrected.

Born Marie Čermínová in Prague in 1902, the artist changed her name to a more neutral pseudonym, Toyen, that she thought would make it easier to show her work and gain respect on the more male-dominated art scene of 1922. The rumor has it that the name was coined by none other than Jaroslav Seifert, the Czech Nobel Prize for Literature laureate.

After leaving home at the young age of 16 and supporting herself by working at a soap factory, Toyen went on to study decorative arts at the Applied Arts University and in her early 20s she met painter and photographer Jindřich Štyrský who became a life-long friend and collaborator. Together, they joined the Czech avant garde art society Devětsil, created their own art style, “artificialism” that they believed offered new ideas differentiated from abstraction and surrealism, and spent extended time in France where they befriended surrealists Andre Breton and Paul Eluard. Sidelined by World War II when surrealism art fell out of favor (and hiding one of her Jewish painter colleagues in her studio for three years), Toyen made a living by working on magazine and book illustrations and collages, many of which feel surprisingly modern and completely unlike her other work. She re-emerged after the war but after a few shows moved permanently to Paris where she continued her creative work in collaboration with other French surrealists until her death in 1980. She is considered to be one of the most prominent Czech avant garde artists of the 20th century.

SURREALIST? YES. BUT ALSO INCREDIBLY VERSATILE

What surprised me walking through the show was the creative evolution of the artist who was able to deftly pivot from one style to another and always make it her own. From early geometric and pastel-colored works to sharp and precise illustrations, then on to saturated palettes and organic sea-inspired shapes and on again to stark and stripped-down black and white wartime drawings and futuristic collages. it’s all there and Toyen emerges as a multi-talented artist who can surprise you and teach you a thing or two.

The show is running for a few more weeks at the Valdstejnska jizdarna in Prague. It is currently sold out but if you happen to find a ticket, go. You will enjoy it. And for those who miss it in Prague, you will have a second chance in Paris and then Berlin later this year.