Born Marie Čermínová in Prague in 1902, Toyen adopted her gender-neutral pseudonym in the early 1920s, distancing herself from traditional notions of identity and artistic convention. She first became involved with the Czech avant-garde through the Devětsil group, where she collaborated closely with the painter Jindřich Štyrský and developed a practice spanning painting, collage, and drawing. In 1934, she became one of the founders of the Surrealist group in Prague, alongside artists including Karel Teige and Jindřich Štyrský.
During the Second World War, Toyen remained in occupied Prague and secretly sheltered the Surrealist poet Jindřich Heisler, who was persecuted under the Nazi regime. In 1947, she moved to Paris, where she became part of André Breton’s Surrealist circle. Her work from this period increasingly explored fragmented bodies, isolated objects, and ambiguous spaces, often combining elements of eroticism, violence, and dream.