Horror 1937

Toyen made this painting, Horror, with oil paint, though we can’t be sure exactly when. It’s interesting to think about how a painting earns its title, especially one like this. The texture of the wall is built up from horizontal strokes, thick in some places, thin in others, that feel like you could reach out and touch them. But it’s not a real wall, it's a representation, a kind of phantom wall. The dandelion-like flower is a collection of white, wispy gestures, with a surprising red core, like blood. It looks fragile, like a breath could blow it away. There’s also something slightly sinister about the way the flower sits in front of the wall. The hands emerging above it feel ghostly, almost like an image from a dream. Toyen’s work feels a bit like that of Remedios Varo, each creating their own distinctive language. Like them, the possibilities of interpretation are wide open, hovering somewhere between beauty and strangeness.