Toyen’s painting The Secret of Places was auctioned for almost 50 million CZK

Commercial presentation Update: 28/04/2024 19:12
Issued by: 28/04/2024, 19:00

Prague – A painting by painter Toyen from 1961 called The Secret of Places was auctioned in Prague today for 49.6 million crowns, including the auction surcharge. This is the highest amount ever achieved at auction for a work from Toyen’s post-war work, the European Arts gallery said.

The dark surrealist painting The Secret of Places, dominated by the motif of a heart carried away by a predator, was the most expensive item in today’s auction at the Municipal House in Prague. The starting price was 33 million crowns. The battle between several bidders directly from the hall and on the phone ended at a price of almost 50 million. The auction record for Toyen’s works is held by her painting Circus, which was sold for 79.56 million crowns in 2021.

The first and so far the only owner of the picture was Raymond Borde, co-author of books about the film. He obtained the work directly from the author through the poet André Breton. The painting was exhibited for the first and last time at the last solo exhibition of the Czech avant-garde painter in Paris in 1962.

In total, art collectors spent more than 100 million crowns at today’s auction. 80 percent of the items offered found a new owner. The auctioned works included, for example, an oil painting by Alfons Mucha called Portrait of a Girl with a price of 4,340,000 CZK or a painting by Václav Špála called Z Korčula, which was auctioned for 2,728,000 crowns.

Ranking of the ten most expensive Toyen paintings sold at auctions in the Czech Republic:

CR creative Toyen PHOTO