Misplaced Pages

#943056

46-653: Tove Marika Jansson ( Fenno- Swedish pronunciation: [ˈtuːve ˈjɑːnsːon] ; 9 August 1914 – 27 June 2001) was a Finnish author, novelist, painter, illustrator and comic strip author of Swedish descent. Brought up by artistic parents, Jansson studied art from 1930 to 1938 in Helsinki , Stockholm , and Paris . She held her first solo art exhibition in 1943. Over the same period, she penned short stories and articles for publication, and subsequently drew illustrations for book covers, advertisements, and postcards. She continued her work as an artist and writer for

92-609: A "Moomintroll" lived in the kitchen closet and breathed cold air down people's necks. In 1952, after Comet in Moominland and Finn Family Moomintroll had been translated into English, a British newspaper man, Charles Sutton, asked if Tove Jansson would be interested in drawing comic strips about the Moomins. Jansson accepted the offer. The comic strip Moomintroll started in the London Evening News , which had

138-760: A Breton sweater and a beret", was inspired by Pietilä. Jansson died on 27 June 2001 at the age of 86. She is buried at the Hietaniemi Cemetery in Helsinki. In 1968, Swedish public TV, SVT , made a documentary about Tove called Moomins and the Sea (39 min.). Jansson's books, originally written in Swedish, have been translated into 45 languages. The Moomin Museum in Tampere displays much of Jansson's work on

184-513: A Finnish-Swedish political and satirical magazine . Jansson is principally known as the author of the Moomin books. Jansson created the Moomintrolls , a family who are white, round and smooth in appearance, with large snouts that make them vaguely resemble hippopotamuses . She first drew a deliberately ugly creature as a caricature of Immanuel Kant , the philosopher; a kinder version became

230-613: A ballet by Ahti Sonninen ( Radio tekee murron ) which was performed at the Finnish National Opera . By 1958, Jansson began to become directly involved in theater as Lilla Teater produced Troll i kulisserna ( Troll in the wings ), a play with lyrics by Jansson and music composed by Erna Tauro . The production was a success, despite the actors' difficulties speaking through their bulbous "Moominsnouts", and later performances were held in Sweden and Norway. In 1974

276-532: A circulation of 12 million at that time, making it the world's largest daily newspaper. The strip spread to hundreds of other newspapers in 12 countries. Although she became known first and foremost as an author, Tove Jansson considered her careers as author and painter to be of equal importance. She painted throughout her life. She exhibited during the 1930s and early 1940s, holding her first solo exhibition in 1943. Despite generally positive reviews, criticism induced Jansson to refine her style; her 1955 solo exhibition

322-472: A dark and scary forest, where they encounter various dangers. In Comet in Moominland , a comet nearly destroys the Moominvalley. Some critics have considered this an allegory of nuclear weapons . Finn Family Moomintroll deals with adventures brought on by the discovery of a magician's hat. The Exploits of Moominpappa (1950) tells the story of Moominpappa's adventurous youth and cheerfully parodies

368-499: A park near her childhood home in Katajanokka "Tove Jansson's Park" ( Finnish : Tove Janssonin puisto , Swedish : Tove Janssons park ). With a new animated series, Moominvalley broadcast in 2019, Rhianna Pratchett wrote an article about the impact Jansson had had on her father, the science fiction author Terry Pratchett ; he called Jansson one of the greatest children's writers ever, and credited her writing as one of

414-781: A partial solution by building a house on a small island in the Gulf of Finland, and staying there for the summer. Jansson's and Pietilä's travels and summers spent together on the Klovharu island in Pellinki have been captured on several hours of film, shot by Pietilä. Several documentaries have been made of this footage, the latest being Haru, yksinäinen saari ( Haru, the lonely island ) (1998) and Tove ja Tooti Euroopassa ( Tove and Tooti in Europe ) (2004). The character Too-ticky, described by Sue Prideaux as "a wild-haired artistic troll in

460-636: A resurgence in the age of social media thanks to social networks like Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, and YouTube. Currently traditional and digital illustration are both flourishing. Universities and art schools offer specific courses in illustration (for example in the UK, a BA (Hons) Degree ) so this has become a new avenue into the profession. Many illustrators are freelance , commissioned by publishers (of newspapers, books, or magazines) or advertising agencies. Most scientific illustrations and technical illustrations are also known as information graphics . Among

506-419: Is especially sombre in tone, possibly in consequence of the death of Jansson's mother during the year that it was written. Because of this, it has been described as being a "textbook on letting go, being a mature orphan, existing spiritually alone". Following this book, Jansson stated that she "couldn't go back and find that happy Moominvalley again" and so decided to stop writing the Moomin books. In addition to

SECTION 10

#1732790936944

552-468: Is the best known of her adult fiction; it describes the summer stay on an island of a young girl and her grandmother. The girl is modelled on her niece, Sophia Jansson ; the girl's father on Sophia's father, Lars Jansson; and the grandmother on Tove's mother Signe. Tove Jansson worked as an illustrator and cartoonist for the Swedish-language satirical magazine Garm from 1929 to 1953, when

598-512: Is the use of digital tools to produce images under the direct manipulation of the artist, usually through a pointing device, such as a tablet or a mouse. Computers dramatically changed the industry and today, many cartoonists and illustrators create digital illustrations using computers, graphics tablets , and scanners . Software such as Adobe Illustrator , Adobe Photoshop , GIMP , Corel Painter, and Affinity Designer are now widely used by those professionals. Garm (magazine) Garm

644-467: The Garm contributors. One of the most significant contributors of Garm was Tove Jansson who started her career in the magazine as a cartoonist in 1929 when she was just fifteen. Tove Jansson's mother, Signe Hammarsten-Jansson, also worked at the magazine from its start in 1923. Over time the former became the magazine's chief illustrator. Some characters in her Moomin cartoon strips first appeared in

690-790: The Gulf of Finland may have helped to inspire her later books, such as Moominpappa at Sea . Jansson went to Finland's first co-educational school, Läroverket för gossar och flickor in Helsinki . She then studied at Konstfack (University College of Arts, Crafts and Design) , in Stockholm in 1930–1933, the Graphic School of the Finnish Academy of Fine Arts in 1933–1937, and finally at L'École d'Adrien Holy and L' École des Beaux-Arts in Paris in 1938. Her first solo exhibition

736-471: The genre of memoir . Finally, Moominsummer Madness ( Farlig midsommar , 1955) is set in a theatre: the Moomins explore the empty building and perform Moominpappa's melodrama . Moominland Midwinter marks a turning point in the series. Jansson described it as a book about “what it is like when things get difficult”: the story focuses on Moomintroll, who wakes up in the middle of the winter (Moomins hibernate from November to April), and has to cope with

782-514: The Moomin novels and short stories, Tove Jansson wrote and illustrated four picture books: The Book about Moomin, Mymble and Little My (1952), Who will Comfort Toffle? (1960), The Dangerous Journey (1977) and An Unwanted Guest (1980). As the Moomins' fame grew, two of the original novels, Comet in Moominland and The Exploits of Moominpappa , were revised by Jansson and republished. Critics have interpreted various Moomin characters as being inspired by real people, especially members of

828-567: The Moomin series, Comet in Moominland (1946) and Finn Family Moomintroll (1948), brought Jansson some fame. The style of the Moomin books changed as time went by. The first books, written starting during the Second World War, up to Moominland Midwinter (1957), are adventure stories that include floods, comets and supernatural events. The Moomins and the Great Flood deals with Moominmamma and Moomintroll's flight through

874-629: The Moomins. There is a Moomin theme park named Moomin World in Naantali . In 2012, the BBC broadcast a one-hour documentary on Jansson, Moominland Tales: The Life of Tove Jansson . A Moominvalley Park opened at Hannō , Japan in 2019. In March 2014, the Ateneum Art Museum opened a major centenary exhibition showcasing Jansson's works as an artist, an illustrator, a political caricaturist and

920-552: The Moomintroll appeared first in Jansson's political cartoons, where it was used as a signature character near the artist's name. This "Proto-Moomin", then called Snork or Niisku, was thin and ugly, with a long, narrow nose and devilish tail. Jansson said that she had designed the Moomins in her youth: after she lost a philosophical quarrel about Immanuel Kant with one of her brothers, she drew "the ugliest creature imaginable" on

966-402: The Moomintroll. The first book, The Moomins and the Great Flood , was published in 1945. Although the primary characters are Moominmamma and Moomintroll, most of the principal characters of later stories were only introduced in the next book, so The Moomins and the Great Flood is frequently considered a forerunner to the main series. The book was not a success, but the next two installments in

SECTION 20

#1732790936944

1012-610: The Snark and Alice's Adventures in Wonderland . She created a set of illustrations for the 1962 Swedish edition of J. R. R. Tolkien 's 1937 children's book The Hobbit . The scholar of literature Björn Sundmark states that Jansson's work helped to define how Tolkien's Middle-earth fantasy could be depicted visually. The edition with her illustrations was not reprinted for many years, even though reviewers and "Tolkienists" liked Jansson's "expressive" images. Sundmark suggests that

1058-633: The author's family and close friends, and Jansson spoke in interviews about the backgrounds of, and possible models for, her characters. The personality of Tuulikki Pietilä, Jansson's partner, inspired the character Too-Ticky in Moominland Midwinter , while Moomintroll and Little My have been seen as psychological self-portraits of the artist. The Moomins relate strongly to Jansson's own family – they were bohemian and lived close to nature. Jansson remained close to her mother until her mother's death in 1970; even after Tove had become an adult,

1104-650: The basis of a picture book world. Some traditional illustration techniques include watercolor , pen and ink , airbrush art, oil painting , pastels , wood engraving , and linoleum cuts . John Held, Jr. was an illustrator who worked in a variety of styles and media, including linoleum cuts, pen and ink drawings, magazine cover paintings, cartoons, comic strips , and set design, while also creating fine art with his animal sculptures and watercolor, many established illustrators attended an art school or college of some sort and were trained in different painting and drawing techniques. Traditional illustration seems to have made

1150-794: The creator of the Moomins. The exhibition drew nearly 300,000 visitors in six months. After Helsinki the exhibition embarked on a tour in Japan to visit five Japanese museums. In January 2016, a permanent Tove Jansson exhibition of murals, an oil painting, photographs and sketches opened at the Helsinki Art Museum . The two murals, Party in the Countryside and Party in the City were created for Helsinki City Hall 's Kaupunginkellari restaurant. From June 2017 to September 2017, an exhibition of Jansson's paintings, illustrations, and cartoons

1196-426: The first Moomin opera was produced, with music composed by Ilkka Kuusisto . The Moomintrolls have been adapted to media including television animations such as the 1990 Moomin series , and feature films. Jansson had several male lovers, including the political philosopher Atos Wirtanen , and briefly became engaged to him. He was the inspiration for the Moomin character Snufkin . However, she eventually "went over to

1242-451: The former Finnish president Urho Kekkonen to be granted two such coins. She was featured on a €2 commemorative coin that entered general circulation in June 2014. Since 1988, Finland's Post has released several postage stamp sets and one postal card with Moomin motifs. In 2014, Jansson herself was featured on a Finnish stamp set. In 2014 the City of Helsinki honored Jansson by renaming

1288-498: The information graphics, specialists are medical illustrators who illustrate human anatomy, often requiring many years of artistic and medical training. A particularly popular medium with illustrators of the 1950s and 1960s was casein , as was egg tempera . The immediacy and durability of these media suited illustration's demands well. The artwork in both types of paint withstood the rigors of travel to clients and printers without damage. Computer illustration, or digital illustration,

1334-547: The magazine ceased production. One of her political cartoons achieved a brief international fame: she drew Adolf Hitler as a crying baby in diapers, surrounded by Neville Chamberlain and other great European leaders, who tried to calm the baby down by giving it slices of cake – Austria , Poland , Czechoslovakia , etc. In the Second World War , during which Finland fought against the Soviet Union , part of

1380-418: The main motif in the 2004 minting of a Finnish commemorative coin, the €10 Tove Jansson and Finnish Children's Culture commemorative coin . The obverse depicts a combination of her portrait and the skyline, an artist's palette, a crescent and a sailing boat. The reverse features three Moomin characters. In 2014 she was again featured on a commemorative coin, this time of €20, becoming the only person other than

1426-514: The reason was that in the 1960s, a new, more realistic style became the norm for fantasy art. Several stage productions have been made from Jansson's Moomin series, including a number that Jansson herself was involved in. The earliest production was a 1949 theatrical version of Comet in Moominland performed at Åbo Svenska Teater . In the early 1950s, Jansson collaborated on Moomin-themed children's plays with Vivica Bandler . In 1952, Jansson designed stage settings and dresses for Pessi and Illusia ,

Tove Jansson - Misplaced Pages Continue

1472-921: The reasons he became an author. Illustrator Illustration is the art of making images that work with something and add to it without needing direct attention and without distracting from what they illustrate. The other thing is the focus of the attention, and the illustration's role is to add personality and character without competing with that other thing. Illustrations have been used in advertisements , architectural rendering , greeting cards , posters , books , graphic novels , storyboards , business , technical communications , magazines , shirts , video games , tutorials , and newspapers . A cartoon illustration can add humour to certain stories or essays . Use reference images to create scenes and characters. This can be as simple as looking at an image to inspire your artwork or creating character sketches and detailed scenes from different angles to create

1518-597: The rest of her life. Jansson wrote the Moomin novel series for children, starting with the 1945 The Moomins and the Great Flood . The following two books, Comet in Moominland and Finn Family Moomintroll , published in 1946 and 1948 respectively, were highly successful, and sales of the first book increased correspondingly. For her work as a children's author she received the Hans Christian Andersen Medal in 1966; among her many later awards

1564-599: The semi-autobiographical Bildhuggarens dotter ( Sculptor's Daughter ) in 1968, Jansson wrote six novels, including the admired Sommarboken ( The Summer Book ), and five short story collections for adults. Tove Jansson was born in Helsinki , in the Grand Duchy of Finland , an autonomous part of the Russian Empire at the time. Her family, part of the Swedish-speaking minority of Finland ,

1610-401: The spook side" as she put it—a coded expression for homosexuality —and developed a secret love affair with the married theater director Vivica Bandler . In 1956 Jansson met her lifelong partner, Tuulikki Pietilä , known as "Tooti". In Helsinki they lived apart but nearby, so they could meet unnoticed, but this did not resolve the problem that Jansson's mother often came to stay. They found

1656-462: The strange and unfriendly world he finds. The short story collection Tales from Moominvalley (1962) and the novels Moominpappa at Sea (1965) and Moominvalley in November (1970) are serious and psychologically searching books, far removed from the light-heartedness and cheerful humor of Finn Family Moomintroll . Moominvalley in November , in which the Moomin family themselves never appear,

1702-705: The time cooperating with Nazi Germany, her cover illustrations for Garm lampooned both Hitler and Joseph Stalin : in one, Stalin draws his sword from his impressively long scabbard , only to find it absurdly short; in another, multiple Hitlers ransack a house, carrying away food and artworks. In The Spectator ' s view, Jansson made both "Hitler and Stalin appear as preposterous little figures, self-important and comic". Her earliest comic strips were created for productions including Lunkentus ( Prickinas och Fabians äventyr , 1929), Vårbrodd ( Fotbollen som Flög till Himlen ', 1930), and Allas Krönika ( Palle och Göran gå till sjöss , 1933). The figure of

1748-482: The two often traveled together, and during her final years Signe lived with Tove part-time. Moominpappa and Moominmamma are often seen as portraits of Jansson's parents. Jansson's first foray outside children's literature was Bildhuggarens dotter ( Sculptor's Daughter ), a semi-autobiographical novel published in 1968. She went on to write five more novels for adults, including Sommarboken ( The Summer Book ) and five collections of short stories. The Summer Book

1794-626: The wall of their outhouse and wrote under it "Kant". This Moomin later gained weight and a more pleasant appearance, but in the first Moomin book The Moomins and the Great Flood (originally Småtrollen och den stora översvämningen ), the Immanuel-Kant-Moomin is still perceptible. The name Moomin comes from Tove Jansson's uncle, Einar Hammarsten : when she was studying in Stockholm and living with her Swedish relatives, her uncle tried to stop her pilfering food by telling her that

1840-666: Was Henry Rein. The magazine was published in Helsinki on a monthly basis. It had a conservative political stance like its predecessor. However, unlike Kerberos Garm opposed both the nationalism in the form of true Finnishness and the extreme leftist politics. In addition, although Garm supported the Swedish language and culture in Finland, it did not call for the cooperation with Sweden. The magazine mocked both Communism and Nazism during World War II . Garm' s readers were mostly politicians, celebrities, and other leading figures. Tito Colliander and Jarl Hemmer were among

1886-548: Was a monthly political and satirical magazine published in Helsinki, Finland. The magazine existed for thirty years from 1923 to 1953. The title of the magazine is a reference to a character in the Norse mythology , a monstrous hound which defended the entrance to Helheim , the Norse realm of the dead. Garm was established in 1923 as a successor of Kerberos which was also a satirical magazine published in Finland. The founder

Tove Jansson - Misplaced Pages Continue

1932-523: Was an artistic one: her father, Viktor Jansson , was a sculptor, and her mother, Signe Hammarsten-Jansson , was a Swedish-born graphic designer and illustrator. Tove's siblings also became artists: Per Olov Jansson became a photographer and Lars Jansson an author and cartoonist. Whilst their home was in Helsinki , the family spent many of their summers in a rented cottage on one of the islands of Pellinki near Porvoo , 50 km (31 miles) east of Helsinki; The Söderskär Lighthouse island off Porvoo in

1978-658: Was held in 1943. At age 14, Jansson wrote and illustrated her first picture book Sara och Pelle och näckens bläckfiskar ( Sara and Pelle and Neptune's Children ). It was not published until 1933. She also sold drawings that were published in magazines in the 1920s. In the 1930s Jansson made several trips to other European countries. She drew from these for her short stories and articles, which she also illustrated, and which were also published in magazines, periodicals and daily papers. During this period, Jansson also designed many book covers, adverts and postcards. Following her mother's example, she drew illustrations for Garm ,

2024-799: Was held in Kunstforeningen Gammel Strand in Copenhagen in collaboration with Ateneum in Helsinki . The exhibition then moved from October 2017 to January 2018 to the Dulwich Picture Gallery in London . This was the first major retrospective exhibition of her work in the United Kingdom. A biopic , titled Tove , directed by Zaida Bergroth was released in October 2020. Jansson was selected as

2070-559: Was simpler in detail and content. Between 1960 and 1970 she held five more solo exhibitions. The National Biography of Finland describes Jansson as going "against the conventional image of an artist with her unusually even balance between visual art and writing." Throughout her career, Jansson created a series of commissioned murals and public works which may still be viewed in their original locations, including: As well as illustrating her own books, Jansson illustrated Swedish translations of classics such as Lewis Carroll 's The Hunting of

2116-542: Was the Selma Lagerlöf Prize in 1992. Her Moomin stories have been adapted for the theatre, the cinema, and as an opera. She held a solo exhibition of paintings in 1955, and five more between 1960 and 1970. She carried out several commissions for murals in public buildings around Finland between 1945 and 1984. She created the illustrations both for her own books and for classics including Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and The Hobbit . Starting with

#943056