Peaks and Troughs
. Toyen’s market history is characterized by steady growth—with occasional bad years. The last significant moment in the artist’s market was between 2010 and 2015. But 2016 was a bad year for the market, with 33.3 percent sell-through rate, and total sales plunging 97.3 percent. The market recovered the following two years, in 2018 reaching its highest total sales since 2010—only to be followed by another bad year in 2019, with total sales plummeting to their lowest level since 2007.
Surrealism is also having a moment, with a major surrealism exhibition currently on view at Tate and many of the contemporary art stars of today taking inspiration from the surrealist aesthetic, and the markets for many of the better known surrealists seeing a bump. Based on what we know so far, both of these trends are expected to combine at the forthcoming Venice Biennale. Surrealism, and an emphasis on women and gender non-conforming artists are some of the through-lines Cecilia Alemani has picked out about her exhibition “The Milk of Dreams”—named for Leonora Carrington. Toyen is among the 213 artists included in the exhibition.
The international visibility from this major art world event could bode well for the artist’s rising market. The opportunity for one of the main auction houses to notch the world record for Toyen’s work is wide opening, meaning we will likely see more work offered to the block outside of Czech Republic.
this feels like a hybrid between giantgio's and LevPo's art to me