I look like a cat in my yellow fur, she wrote to a friend.
I dont know yet whether its good or bad, I simply paint.
She was watchful, a bit defiant, bold.
Artist and author Tove Jansson at Klovharu, the Finnish island off the Baltic Sea where she and her partner, Tuulikki Pietilä, spent their summers for nearly 30 years.
And its not just that theyre cute.
Jansson remains Finlands most widely translated author; her books have been published in more than 60 languages.
Jansson, who died in 2001, was a prolific writer beyond the Moomin books.
Tove Jansson,Lynx Boa,1942. © Tove Jansson.
Jansson never stuck to just one thing, and defied expectations at every turn.
She made political cartoons, sets for the stage, and took on myriad public art projects.
Never before has such a span of Janssons painted works been displayed together.
Tove Jansson’s self-portait with the Moomins.
Tove Jansson,Smoking Girl Self-Portrait,1940.
Tove Jansson,Before the Masquerade,1943.
Finnish design powerhouse Artek will launch a collaboration with Moomin Characters next year as well.
Tove Jansson,Smoking Girl Self-Portrait,1940. © Moomin Characters.
Tove is a very special artist to us, says Arja Miller, HAMs director.
She was close with her mother, Signe Hammarsten, a.k.a.
Ham, who hailed from Stockholm and was herself a prolific illustrator.
Tove Jansson,Before the Masquerade,1943.
(Ham designed the most Finnish postage stamps of probably anyone, Im told.)
Toves father, Viktor Jansson, a.k.a.
Faffan, was a sculptor who encouraged his daughters artistic career early on.
Tove Jansson,Family,1942.
Jansson was educated at several art schools, and had strong opinions about all of them.
From ages 16 to 19, she attended the Stockholm Technical School, where her mother had studied.
She excelled there, but felt a pull toward home.
Tove Jansson, Fairy tale panorama (left side), 1949. Commissioned work for the wall of the daycare center of the port company Ab Federation Stevedoring Ltd (now Kotka city’s early childhood education facility). City of Kotka. © Moomin Characters Oy Ltd. Photo: HAM / Maija Toivanen.
Paris was her favorite city, says Heli Harni, the curator of the show at HAM.
In France she fell in love with the Old Masters and the Impressionists.
The work of Matisse and Suzanne Valadon were particularly influential.
Tove Jansson,Party in the City,1947. © Tove Jansson’s estate. Photo: HAM / Hanna Kukorelli.
Thats why I followed my own path.
After Paris, she traveled through Germany and Italy seeking further inspiration.
But World War II was looming, and she returned home to Helsinki.
Tove Jansson,Ugly Self-Portait,1975.
Tove Jansson,Family,1942.
Ham holds a cigarette, her concerned eyes directed toward her husband.
Faffan, wearing an artists smock, looks weary.
Though the family was tight-knit, a giant rift emerged during the war years.
(This rift is channeled in Janssons bookThe Exploits of Moominpappa.)
Jansson, a staunch anti-fascist, paints herself standing behind her brothers, looking skeptical.
During this time Jansson and Ham were contributing anti-war illustrations toGarm, a satirical political paper.
(What I liked best was being beastly to Stalin and Hitler, Jansson once said.)
After the war, Finland owed a lot in reparations, leaving the country broken, and broke.
She lent these works a cheerful, dreamlike style, incorporating natural prefs and fairy-tale creatures.
They are boldly, beautifully feminine, with a dash of humorwhat Jansson thought society needed as it recovered.
Tove Jansson, Fairy tale panorama (left side), 1949.
Moomin Characters Oy Ltd. Photo: HAM / Maija Toivanen.
Men wanted to have these jobs also, and they were very jealous of her at the time.
Jansson snuck in a reference to her first girlfriend, Vivica Bandler, in the city fresco.
Shes dancing in a rose-patterned dress, while Tove sits at the table smoking.
Tove Jansson,Party in the City,1947.
Tove Jansson’s estate.
Photo: HAM / Hanna Kukorelli.
By the mid-1950s, Jansson was a full-on celebrity.
She felt pulled in the Moomin direction, leaving less time for painting (to her chagrin).
But she created, in some form or another, all throughout her life.
She did make fine art again, in 1975.
She had gone to Paris with Pietila, her partner, who had a scholarship there.
Theres a lot in that painting.
Its really done with incredibly fresh brushstrokes, and sort of freedom thatthe viewer sees it.
Its what makes Paradise such a fitting name for this show.
Its just aspirational enough, because maybe we should want for the tiny joys that help us muddle through.
Give me a picture, a longing to express something, Jansson wrote in a note in 1960.
It doesnt need to be much, but it must besomething, a little pleasure, a little need.
Tove Jansson Paradise is on view at the Helsinki Art Museum through April 6, 2025.
