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New season – New highlights: Beautiful collection of works by Tove Jansson

› Tove Jansson in her studio, 1956. Photography: Reino Loppinen


Tove Jansson

– Life stories through painting


In recent years, Bukowskis has sold several works by Tove Jansson for world record prices and top results. We now present a collection of exquisite artworks by the artist in this autumn's Finnish Modern Art theme auction.


The late 1930s and the early 1940s was a period when Tove Jansson developed into a more independent and refined artist. In 1938 she made her first real study trip to Paris and Brittany, acquired an atelier of her own and participated in exhibitions for the first time. She moved from her parent’s home in 1941 and held her first private exhibition in 1943.


› Tove Jansson, Still-life. Estimate 25 000 – 35 000 EUR.


At the turn of the decade, the Winter War broke out, casting a shadow on Tove Jansson's life, both as an artist and as a private person. It was difficult to get art supplies, friends were being sent to the front, and an overall uncertainty left its mark on the general mood. Despite all of this, wartime was a productive period, and Jansson was able to sell many of her works. Narrativity and beauty are like cornerstones in the artist's production, and Erik Kruskopf describes how Tove Jansson created an idyllic, even serene image of life during those ponderous years. Explicit references to the war are rare in her art. It is no wonder that her works already then appealed to viewers, acting as a counterbalance to the heavy burden of the war.



› Tove Jansson, 'Stenhatt'. Estimate 20 000 – 30 000 EUR.


By the 1950s, abstract art was inevitably arriving in the Finnish art field, if not entirely smoothly. Part of the artistic community approached abstract motifs through the ideals of concrete art, while some turned towards informalism. Tove Jansson's art also started to show informalistic features by the 1960s, but the development and change can already be seen in the more clearly figurative works of the 1950s. The elements of her works became more straightforward and distinct; details were no longer focal in the same manner as in the production of the two previous decades.


› Tove Jansson, ’Sunlight in the forest’. Estimate 17 000 – 22 000 EUR.


According to Erik Kruskopf, Sigrid Schauman ended one of her critiques by stating that "she knows what she is doing and is apparently ready to pursue a new objective. Perhaps pure painting would be suitable for her," referring to the transition towards abstract art.

Tove Jansson was an artist who could create stories through the visual arts as well as in writing, and she had the ability to combine these two. Her art depicts what she has experienced and reflects stories where impressions and events are woven together into a perfect whole.


The collection will be sold at Finnish Modern Art from September 2nd – 11th.


Discover the works and place a bid


For inquiries & condition reports Contact our category specialist


Johan Wulff
Helsinki
Johan Wulff
Head Specialist Art
+358 (0)50 410 1377