03 syyskuuta 2021

Friday Bliss #155 - Tove Jansson as painter

I have not been online for a week, because made a trip to Southwestern Finland, 
to Kustavi and Turku. Visited many interesting museums, old churches and 
 other places of interest. I have a great amount of photos and experiences to share 
in the coming weeks. Today I’ll share a previous museum visit to Didrichsen Art Museum
which presented Tove Jansson as painter.


Family, 1942


TO PAINT IS TO BE, DIDRICHSEN ART MUSEUM, HELSINKI

The Didrichsen Art Museum on Kuusisaari (Helsinki) is always a great place to visit. Designed by architect Viljo Revell, the modern building has a beautiful location and the sculpture park features sculptures by world-famous artists. I went to see the exhibition To paint is to be, which presented Tove Jansson (1914-2001) as painter. The general public knows Jansson best as the creator, author, and illustrator of Moomin characters, but the multi-talented Jansson often emphasized that she was primarily a painter. Her most significant visual art productions include public commissioned works and decorative paintings for Aurora Children's Hospital, schools and kindergartens, among others. 

In the 1930s, Jansson studied at the School of Art and Design in Stockholm, at the School of Drawing of the Finnish Art Association in Helsinki, and completed her studies in Paris. At the heart of the exhibition were the early years of her career at the turn of the 1930s and 1940s, as well as a period of artistic renewal in the late 1950s and 1960s, when the artist's works reflected an increasingly simplified form and controlled composition. In the 1960s, Jansson also experimented with a completely abstract expression. Personally, I liked Jansson’s early works the most, with a broken color palette.

Jansson rose to success in the 1940s when the first Moomin books were published. Through bohemian, tolerant, and humorous moomins, Jansson has also addressed difficult topics such as loneliness, inadequacy, and death. The philosophy of Moomin books has given a lot to adult readers as well, and Jansson was a skilled illustrator of the roles of children and adults throughout her production. Jansson is one of Finland's most read and well-known writers. Her works, especially Moomin books, have been translated into 45 languages ​​and she is Finland's most translated author. In addition, there are several theatre, opera, film, television and radio productions with the moomins.


Paradise


Lanscape, 1930s 



On the left blue self-portrait of Eva Cederström. They studied at the same time in Helsinki.





Smoking girl, self-portrait, 1940


Self-portrait, 1942

Astrid / Le monde de Kitchi has written an in-depth post about 
the life and art of Tove Jansson in German.

The sculpture park of the Didrichsen Art Museum contains works e.g. from the following sculptors: Henry Moore, Mario Negri, Bernard Meadows, Eila Hiltunen, Laila Pellinen and Eero Hiironen. In addition to the sculptures in the museum's own collections, there are also occasional works lent to the museum. Björn Weckström’s (b. 1935) works can now be seen in the sculpture park. The sculptures anticipate the exhibition - Man, Machine and Jewelery, which opens on September 11, 2021.


❤︎❤︎❤︎
Wishing you all a relaxing & sunny weekend, stay well & healthy!
Thank you for all the lovely comments you leave week after week at Friday Bliss.


The link is open
FROM FRIDAY 7 AM TILL THE NEXT TUESDAY 4 PM
Helsinki time

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

28 kommenttia:

  1. Guten Morgen Riita,
    ja, ich habe schon gedacht: "wo ist sie denn?". Aber nun hast du ja einen ganzen Schatz von Dingen mitgebracht, sehr schön. Ich hoffe aber auch, dass meine eintägige Kunstreise klappen wird.
    Schöne Bilder sind das, genau mein Geschmack mit so schönen Bildern. So wunderbar man erlebt es ja geradezu mit.

    Hab ein schönes Wochenende und ich sende liebe Grüße Eva

    VastaaPoista
    Vastaukset
    1. We came home late last night. So I had to use an earlier ready made post. I enjoyed so much, the last real summer days ❤︎ Now it is cool and windy again. Warm greetings to you Eva.

      Poista
  2. Wow! Of course I know the Moomin characters but her paintings are exquisite! Looks like a beautiful museum to visit.

    VastaaPoista
    Vastaukset
    1. It was a pleasure to share these! Greetings.

      Poista
  3. I loved seeing this. We're quite Moomin mad in our house - well, my youngest and I. Our first morning in Helsinki we stumbled across the Tove Jansson playground. It held up the sight seeing but it was a little magical - as if we were going to discover Moomins all over the city. I actually just purchased The Summer Book but not had a chance to read it yet. So I loved the photos in this post. I wish we'd got to go there...

    VastaaPoista
    Vastaukset
    1. This was a great exhibition. Jansson was so talented as painter, too.

      Poista
  4. Dear Riitta
    welcome back after your summer vacation. I would definitely like the museum, not only the pictures but also the ambience with the special lamp and the clock.
    Have a wonderful Friday and hugs
    Eda

    VastaaPoista
    Vastaukset
    1. The building is very modern, on the sea shore, great home decoration. And the statue park quite impressive.

      Poista
  5. Was für eine herrliche Ausstellung, liebe Riitta. Darauf hätte ich auch mal wieder Lust! Liebe Grüße ins erste Septemberwochenende! Herzlichst, Nicole

    VastaaPoista
  6. Glad you had a wonderful vacation. Beautiful paintings and sculptures from the museum. An interesting museum to visit. Have a wonderful week.

    VastaaPoista
    Vastaukset
    1. Because of coronavirus it has been 1,5 years mainly at home. Wonder how I tolerated it... But the same all over.

      Poista
  7. The self-portraits are my favourite. Thanks for sharing.
    Wishing you a nice weekend - and let's hope not so chilly! ;)

    VastaaPoista
    Vastaukset
    1. Definitely too strong wind today, but I did my daily walking :)

      Poista
  8. Thank you so much for these wonderful Post, and all the Information about Tove Jansson. Of course I know them and love their Moomins, I have so many books from them. But as a painter I have not yet noticed Tove Jansson.
    Greetings
    Kirsi

    VastaaPoista
    Vastaukset
    1. We Finns don't know the painter side of Tove Jansson either. That's why the exhibition was so interesting.

      Poista
  9. Liebe Riitta,
    moderne Kunst ist für mich oft nur schwer zu verstehen, aber diese Bilder gefallen mir gut und ich kann etwas mit ihnen anfangen. Di Mumins waren mir allerdings noch unbekannt. Da musste ich erst Mal googeln. Sicher habe ich diese Figuren bestimmt schon mal gesehen, aber sie nicht bewusst wahrgenommen.
    Ich wünsche Dir ein schönes Wochenende.

    Viele liebe Grüße
    Wolfgang

    VastaaPoista
    Vastaukset
    1. The color palette of these paintings please me very much. Have a nice weekend.

      Poista
  10. ...a lovely collection of art. I'd love to visit galleries, but I don't think that time is right.

    VastaaPoista
    Vastaukset
    1. In Finland it is possible at the moment and not too crowded. To wear a mask is a must.

      Poista
  11. Already before I came to your image the woman with the white hat and tassel caught my attention:) Great to see this art, Riitta! Also that huge sculpture on the right - is the green a reflection, or is the statue partly green? Have a lovely weekend! Emille (Jesh)

    VastaaPoista
    Vastaukset
    1. Hi Jesh,

      The green is reflection, the statue is totally steel, designed by Eila Hiltunen (1922-2003).
      Here is a picture link: https://www.didrichsenmuseum.fi/veistospuisto

      Poista
  12. I can tell that Jansson studied and imitated the French Impressionists.

    VastaaPoista
  13. For some odd reason Astrid’s comment gets deleted all the time. She has written a thorough & great post about Tove Jansson’s life and art. The link is above as well - https://lemondedekitchi.blogspot.com/2020/08/great-women-230-tove-jansson.html

    VastaaPoista
  14. Las pinturas son preciosas. Un beso.

    VastaaPoista

Thank you for your comment ♥ All comments containing an advertising link shall be removed.

Kommentoimalla HYVÄKSYT, että Google kerää sinusta määrättyjä tietoja. Mitä ne ovat, löytyy sivulta Yksityisyydensuoja sekä Googlen sivulta.