Abstract
The paper focuses on the analysis and interpretation of the paintings and drawings of the Czech artist Toyen from the period of the Protectorate. The issue of imitation (mimesis) is treated with regard to child's play as well as to the reality of the war and of the Protectorate regime.
Another question is: What is the space-time of the world within which the artist situates her images in the war-time atmosphere? The series of drawings and paintings introduce a fantastic, phantom-like world which is only that much more dizzying due to the rich presence of real objects. The paper demonstrates that the period of horror, bloodbaths and destruction sharpened the elementary awareness that nothing is a phantastic as reality and as real as phantasy.