Tove Jansson

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Tove Jansson with Moomin Figures (1956)
Jansson's signature

Audio file / audio sample Tove Jansson ? / i (bornAugust 9, 1914inHelsinki; †June 27, 2001ibid) was aFinnish-Swedish writer,illustrator,comic book author,graphic artist,illustratorandpainter. She is particularly famous for thefantasy world oftheMoomin trollsthat she created, but she also wrote literature for adults. A special attraction of her work is the versatile interplay of images and texts.

life and work

family

Tove Jansson grew up in a family of artists. Father Viktor "Faffan" Jansson (1886–1958) was a sculptor who came from a Finnish-Swedish merchant family. Her mother, Signe "Ham" Hammarsten-Jansson (1882–1970), a well-known graphic artist, was the daughter of a Swedish pastor. Jansson had two younger brothers, Per Olov (1920–2019) and Lars (1926–2000). Jansson grew up in Helsinki in a predominantly Swedish-speaking environment. In her childhood she spent a lot of time with her mother's relatives in Sweden on the island of Blidö and on the Finnish archipelago island of Pellinge , the family's summer home. Both are considered models for the landscapes depicted in the Moomin novels. The parents led a life between bourgeoisie and bohemian and often lived in uncertain financial circumstances. Signe Hammarsten-Jansson studied art in Stockholm and Paris. She was a talented artist, but women's works of art found little resonance in Finland at this time. In this way she supported her husband's artistic career and at the same time ensured the family's livelihood with her graphic work. Under her guidance, Tove Jansson learned to draw as a child. When she was 14 she published her first drawing in a newspaper, and when she was 15 she published her first comic in a children's magazine. In her youth, Tove was her father's model for the bronze sculpture Convolvulus in Kaisaniemi Park and for the mermaid in the water next to the Espa Stage in Esplanadi Park in Helsinki. Her father remained Tove Jansson's most important artistic role model throughout her life, even if their personal relationship was conflicted. She had a lifelong bond with her mother, as well as with her brothers, with whom she later collaborated artistically. During her studies she met the graphic artist Tuulikki Pietilä , with whom she lived from 1964 until her death.

training

Jansson didn't like going to school and wasn't a good student, not even in art class, which she found too strict and restrictive. At the age of 16 she dropped out of school and, at the instigation of her parents, moved to live with her uncle in Stockholm. At the Technical School Stockholm , where her mother had studied Jansson studied 1931-1933 with a focus on illustration and advertising drawing. Over time, she became more and more interested in painting. She returned to Helsinki in 1933, where she studied painting at the Kunstverein's drawing school ( also known as Ateneum for short after its location in the Ateneum building ) from 1933 to 1936. In the meantime, she left school in protest against its conservative education, but later resumed her studies. The orientation of the Finnish art schools was not very international at the time. Thanks to her stay in Sweden, Jansson was more European oriented. In 1934 she traveled to Germany and France for the first time, where she mainly studied the Impressionist painters . In 1938 and 1939 she traveled again to France and Italy. Her trip to Vesuvius later inspired her children's book Komet im Mumintal . Jansson's works from this period are large-format paintings of mystical landscapes and fairytale scenes.

During this time Jansson met Samuel Besprosvanni , later known as Sam Vanni, who was six years her senior , who became her private tutor and her partner for a few years. Vanni had a formative influence on Jansson's worldview and painting style. The couple separated after a few years, but Jansson remained close friends with Sam Vanni and his future wife Maya.

Illustrator and painter

From the 1930s Jansson earned her living with caricatures and illustrations, among other things for book covers and postcards. Her political caricatures were directed against National Socialism and Stalinism and repeatedly met with resistance. Caricatures directed against Germany were not well regarded in Finland, which is traditionally pro-Germany. She was able to express herself more freely in Swedish-language publications such as the newspaper Svenska Pressen and the magazine Garm , but they too came under increasing pressure. Even then, the Moomintroll appeared as a trademark on their pictures. Even after the end of the war, Jansson continued to draw for Garm magazine , for which she often designed the front page. Her caricatures now dealt, among other things, with everyday life in destroyed Finland and the coming to terms with war crimes. Jansson's focus was still painting. In 1944 she rented a studio at Ullanlinnankatu 1 in Helsinki city center, where she lived and worked. During this time she painted portraits and self-portraits, many of which she sold.

In the 1940s, Jansson became increasingly known as a painter of large-scale murals. She created stained glass and murals for public and private buildings, including schools, kindergartens, hospitals, restaurants, and factory buildings. One of her most important commissions was two frescoes for the dining room of the Helsinki town house, which she began in 1946. In 1954 she painted an altarpiece for the church of Teuva in western Finland, which depicts the parable of the wise and foolish virgins . In the 1950s in particular, these paintings were an important source of income for Jansson. As the Moomin's popularity grew, there was an increasing demand for Moomin paintings, especially for children's facilities. She made her last monumental painting in 1984 for a kindergarten.

Tove Jansson was also known as an illustrator. In addition to illustrating her own books, she also illustrated The Hobbit of Tolkien and Alice in Wonderland and The Hunting of the Snark by Carroll.

The Moomins

The writer and politician Atos Wirtanen , with whom Tove Jansson was in a relationship between 1944 and 1951, encouraged her to publish her first children's book. The story she wrote during the Winter War was published in 1945 under the title Moomin's Long Journey and is the forerunner of the Moomin series. The book was not commercially successful. Only the third book The Moomins. A droll society that appeared in 1948 made Jansson internationally known as a writer. Her breakthrough in Finland came with the picture book Moomin, How will it go on? .

In 1947 Tove Jansson drew her first Moomin comic, again at the suggestion of Atos Wirtanens. They appeared in the Swedish-language weekly newspaper Ny Tid , whose publisher was Wirtanen. The series was discontinued after half a year. Jansson then offered it to other newspapers and had success with the British newspaper The Evening News . The first episode appeared in 1954. Until 1959, weekly serial comics appeared that were aimed at both children and adults. Jansson's youngest brother Lars translate it into English. Although the comics were internationally popular and Jansson secured a steady income for the first time, drawing comics soon became a burden for her. The high time pressure took away the pleasure of working, and her status as a worldwide celebrity sometimes overwhelmed her. In 1959, Jansson announced its collaboration with the Evening News . Lars Jansson, who had worked on many of the comics and learned his sister's drawing style, took over the work and continued the Moomin comics for another 15 years. The comic was published in 120 newspapers in 40 countries, making it the most successful Finnish comic series to date.

After the stressful phase as a comic author, Tove Jansson felt the need to break away from the Moomins. This is how she designed her second picture book, Who comforts Toffel? , in the style of many of her Moomin illustrations, but did not include the Moomin in them. However, she found her way back to the Moomins with Winter in Moomin Valley . Then she wrote the story collection Stories from the Moomin Valley and two other Moomin novels. Moomin's Wondrous Island Adventure is the last novel to feature the Moomins. With Herbst im Moumintal she told of the disappearance of the Moomins from the Moomin valley and ended her story with it. In 1977 and 1980, however, she brought out two more picture books, The Dangerous Journey and The Scoundrel in Moomin House . She designed the latter together with her brother Per Olov Jansson.

Tove Jansson created many of the characters in the Moomin world based on real models. Atos Wirtanen influenced two characters from the Moomin world, the Schnupferich and the muskrat . Another central figure in Jansson's life was the theater director Vivica Bandler , whom Jansson met in 1946. A love affair developed between them that they had to keep a secret, not only because Bandler was married, but mainly because homosexuality was still a criminal offense in Finland at that time. In her fresco for the Helsinki town house, however, she painted Vivica Bandler in the center of one of the pictures, clearly recognizable, thus defying social constraints. Jansson also immortalized the couple in the secretive characters Tofsla and Vifsla , who appeared in the third Moomin novel The Moomin. A funny company to appear for the first time. The relationship ended in 1947; Jansson and Bandler remained close friends for life. Jansson regularly sought Bandler's opinion on her manuscripts and, at her suggestion, wrote plays about the world of the Moomins, which Bandler directed. Bandler and her Austrian husband Kurt together translated the first three Moomin novels into German. Jansson's long-term partner, the graphic artist Tuulikki Pietilä , can be found in the character Tooticki in the Moomin books.

Tove Jansson's grave in the Hietaniemi cemetery

literature for adults

In 1968 the autobiographical book The Sculptor's Daughter was published . After the last Moomin book from 1970, in which the Moominins are absent, she only wrote books with human figures, with the exception of her last two picture books, including many short stories . Thematically, these works are often about creative people, difficulties in communicating, hardened interpersonal relationships, life lies, obsession with ideas and aging.

Late years of life

Together with her partner Tuulikki Pietilä , Jansson spent more and more time on the small island of Klovharu in the Gulf of Finland . They lived there in a modest house that Pietilä's brother, the architect Reima Pietilä , had designed for them. In the last years of her life, Jansson found her joy in the world of Moomins again. With her partner and the doctor and Moomin fan Pentti Eistola, she created a detailed model of the Moomin house. It is now on display at the Muumimuseo in Tampere .

Jansson died on June 27, 2001 after a long illness in Helsinki.

Works

The following Moomin works were published in German:

Tove Jansson played a key role in many further processing of the Moomin material in plays, board games, TV series, etc.

So far, the following of her twelve books for adults have been published in German:

  • The sculptor's daughter ( Bildhuggaren's dotter EA 1968)
  • The listener ( Lyssnerskan EA 1971)
  • The summer book ( Sommarboken EA 1972)
  • City of the Sun ( Solstaden EA 1974)
  • The Doll's House ( Dockskåpet och andra berättelser EA 1978)
  • The honest deceiver ( Den ärliga bedragaren EA 1982)
  • Traveling with light luggage ( Resa med lätt bagage EA 1987)
  • Fair Play ( Rent spel EA 1989)
  • Letters from Klara ( Brev från Klara EA 1991)

Exhibitions

  • 2014: Tove Jansson , Ateneum , Helsinki . Anniversary exhibition on Jansson's life as an artist, illustrator, political cartoonist and author. The exhibition was then shown in five cities in Japan.
  • 2014: Tove Jansson: Tales from the Nordic Archipelago. , Institute of Contemporary Arts , London .
  • 2014: Moomin's Magical Worlds - A Troll Adventure in the Schwules Museum *, Schwules Museum *, Berlin
  • 2017/2018: Tove Jansson (1914–2001) retrospective at the Dulwich Picture Gallery in London, October 25, 2017 to January 28, 2018

Awards

Tove Jansson has received several dozen prizes around the world for her literary work. In 1953 she received the Nils Holgersson plaque , and in 1958 the Elsa Beskow plaque for winter in the Mumintal . In 1966 she was awarded the Hans Christian Andersen Prize for children's and youth literature for her Moomin books . In 1964 she received the Anni Swan Medal for stories from the Moomin Valley . In 1971 she received the Tollanderska prize , in 1972 she was awarded the Svenska Akademiens Finlandspris . She received the children's international award as a Knight of the Order of Smiles .

Afterlife

Tove Jansson estate and the rights to their works of art managed Jansson's niece Sophia Jansson as director of Oy Moomin Characters, Ltd . Many of the originals of her illustrations are on display in the Muumimuseo in Tampere .

Although Jansson saw herself primarily as a painter and her work as a writer and draftswoman as a well-paid sideline, the interest in her literary and graphic work is far greater today than that in her paintings. Wieland Freund described Jansson as “a rather mediocre painter”, but a “brilliant draftsman with a perfect line”. Also Sointu Fritze , the 2014 retrospective at the Dulwich Picture Gallery in London curated, noted that the drawing Jansson was always easy to go out of hand, they have never found their own style while painting it.

Today the Moomins are considered to be one of the most famous creations of Finnish culture around the world.

Posthumous honors

In 2004, a 10 euro commemorative coin was issued in honor of Jansson; a number of Finnish Post stamp series from the 1990s.

To mark Tove Jansson's 100th birthday in 2014, the Central Bank of Finland issued a 2-euro commemorative coin struck by the Finnish Mint . Tove Jansson is the second person after the former President Urho Kekkonen to be honored with two commemorative coins. A Finnish series of coins minted in the same year also contained a commemorative coin depicting a hemul , a figure from the world of Moomins who is known for their love of collecting. The Finnish Post had two series of stamps printed in honor of Tove Jansson on the occasion of his 100th birthday.

The Helsinki City Planning Committee decided in 2014, on Jansson's 100th birthday, to rename the Katajanokanpuisto, which is close to her parents' home, to Tove Janssonin puisto (Tove Jansson Park). The name was changed on March 13th.

Play

The play TOVE by Lucas Svensson was staged in Helsinki on February 8, 2017 under the direction of Fiikka Forsman for the 150th anniversary of Svenska Teatern . Alma Pöysti and Ylva Ekblad played Tove Jansson in it.

Biography

Director Zaida Bergroth's film Tove premiered at the 2020 Toronto International Film Festival . It deals with Tove Jansson's life in the post-war years: her search for independence as an artist, her relationships with Atos Wirtanen and Vivica Bandler and the invention of the Moomins. Alma Pöysti, who Tove Jansson had already played in the play of the same name, also stars in this film, although the film is not based on the play.

Literature about Tove Jansson

  • Tove Holländer: Från idyll till avidyll - Tove Janssons illustrationer till muminböckerna. Instituuti, Turku 1983, ISBN 951-99499-1-7 .
  • Boel Westin: Tove Jansson. Life, Art, Words. The Authorized Biography. From the Swedish by Silvester Mazzarella. Sort Of, London 2014, ISBN 978-1-908745-45-3 .
  • Catherine Mary McLoughlin, Malin Lidström Brock (Eds.): Tove Jansson Rediscovered. Cambridge Scholars Publishing, Newcastle 2007, ISBN 978-1-84718-269-2 .
  • Tuula Karjalainen: Tove Jansson: The Biography. Translated from Finnish by Anke Michler-Janhunen and Regine Pirschel. Urachhaus, Stuttgart 2014, ISBN 978-3-8251-7900-7 .

Web links

Commons : Tove Jansson  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

supporting documents

  1. ^ A b Tuula Karjalainen: Tove Jansson. The biography. Translated from Finnish by Anke Michler-Janhunen and Regine Pirschel. Urachhaus, Stuttgart 2014, ISBN 978-3-8251-7900-7 , pp. 15–34. 219
  2. ↑ a b c d e Moomin inventor Tove turns 100 ( Memento from March 13, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
  3. ↑ Karjalainen, pp. 34-48.
  4. ↑ Karjalainen, pp. 51-57.
  5. ↑ Karjalainen, pp. 51-57.
  6. ↑ Karjalainen, pp. 137-140.
  7. ↑ Karjalainen, pp. 74-78.
  8. ↑ Karjalainen, pp. 125-131. 207-211.
  9. ↑ Karjalainen, pp. 151-163.
  10. ^ Boel Westin: Tove Jansson. Life, Art, Words. The Authorized Biography. From the Swedish by Silvester Mazzarella. Sort Of, London 2014, ISBN 978-1-908745-45-3 , p. 175.
  11. ^ History of the Moomin Books on the official website moomin.com, accessed November 25, 2017.
  12. ↑ Karjalainen, pp. 213-215.
  13. ↑ Karjalainen, pp. 219-231.
  14. ↑ Karjalainen, pp. 241-244.
  15. ↑ Karjalainen, pp. 32, 219-231. 305
  16. ↑ Karjalainen, pp. 163-166.
  17. ↑ Karjalainen, pp. 119-131. 172-175. 205-207
  18. ^ Westin, p. 198, 207.
  19. ↑ Karjalainen, pp. 236-241.
  20. ↑ Karjalainen, pp. 297-299.
  21. ↑ Karjalainen, pp. 303-309.
  22. ↑ Karjalainen, pp. 331-332.
  23. ↑ Museum page on the exhibition , accessed on June 5, 2014.
  24. ↑ The Tove Jansson centenary exhibition attracted 293,837 visitors , Ateneum press release of September 7, 2014, accessed on November 26, 2017.
  25. ↑ Museum page on the exhibition ( Memento of the original from June 6, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed June 5, 2014. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.ica.org.uk
  26. ↑ Museum page on the exhibition , accessed on October 26, 2018.
  27. ^ Tove Jansson (1914–2001) , accessed November 2, 2017
  28. ↑ Wieland Freund : The way to the Mumintal leads via Tove Jansson. In: WeltN24 . August 9, 2014, accessed November 26, 2017 .
  29. ↑ Sointu Fritze in conversation with Max Oppel: "There were times when she wanted to kill the Moomins". In: Deutschlandfunk Kultur . November 1, 2017. Retrieved November 26, 2017 .
  30. ↑ Long Live the Moomins! The Official Travel Guide of Finland, accessed November 26, 2017.
  31. ↑ Mint of Finland: Another collector coin is minted in honor of Tove Jansson ( Memento of the original from November 18, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed November 26, 2017. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.suomenrahapaja.fi
  32. ^ Mint of Finland: A coinage for the Hemulen , accessed November 26, 2017.
  33. ↑ The first stamps of 2014 celebrate Tove Jansson and ancient castles , accessed November 26, 2017.
  34. ↑ http://www.deutschlandradiokultur.de/kulturnachrichten.265.de.html?drn:date=2014-03-12&drn:time=15%3A30
  35. ↑ Katajanokanpuisto renamed Tove Jansson Park , Finland Times report of March 12, 2014
  36. ↑ Official notification of the City of Helsinki of March 21, 2014, last accessed: October 29, 2014.
  37. ↑ TOVE play at the Swedish Theater in Finland , blog on the official website moomin.com, accessed on January 2, 2017.
personal data
SURNAME Jansson, Tove
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Jansson, Tove Marika (full name)
SHORT DESCRIPTION Finnish writer and visual artist
DATE OF BIRTH August 9, 1914
PLACE OF BIRTH Helsinki , Grand Duchy of Finland , Russian Empire
DATE OF DEATH June 27, 2001
PLACE OF DEATH Helsinki , Finland