Tove Jansson's Illustrations Focus of New Exhibition

The Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration in London has announced its winter programme of exhibitions including a new major exhibition on the work and life of Moomin creator Tove Jansson.

Tove Jansson and her Families will run November 21 through 9 May 9, 2027, and will be the UK’s first ever exhibition to focus on Tove Jansson’s work as illustrator and the people who shaped her life. On display will be previously unseen drawings and more than 100 rarely-seen sketches, paintings, illustrations and photographs made by Tove Jansson (1914–2001) and those closest to her.

Tove’s mother Signe Hammarsten Jansson (known as 'Ham') was the family breadwinner, a graphic designer and Finland’s first professional stamp designer. Ham drew daily and gave young Tove a love for illustration whilst her father, Viktor, was a sculptor. Tove’s childhood drawings will be on public display for the first time in the UK including her handmade book Prinsessan Glittergull (1922).

Her work for the satirical magazine Garm – for which she started illustrating aged 15 – will also be featured, highlighting her criticism of fascism during the Second World War. 

The origins of the Moomins began in the 1940s when she was working from her atelier home as part of a creative community in Helsinki. Original art from the first published Moomin book, Småtrollen och den stora översvåmningen (The Moomins and the Great Flood, 1945), will be displayed as part of the exhibition. 

By creating large-scale public murals, Tove contributed to the effort to rebuild Finland after the Second World War. On show in the UK for the first time will be a charcoal study for the vast Bird Blue (1953) mural, measuring 3.5m by 2m. Commissioned for a school, Tove depicted subjects that fascinated her as a child: a cat, a horse, birds, a tower, the sea and a waterfall. A shy hidden Moomin figure peeks out of vegetation close to a boy who has fallen asleep while reading.

Tove was drawn to British fantasy and nonsense literature. In original illustrations for a Swedish edition of Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (Alice i underlandet, 1966) visitors will see Tove’s drawings of surreal worlds and her unique, whimsical approach.

Concluding the exhibition will be images from Tove’s family holidays on Finnish islands in the Pellinge archipelago. The natural world inspired Tove’s work throughout her life, particularly Klovharun, the tiny barren island no bigger than a football pitch where she and her life partner Tuulikki Pietilä spent every summer for nearly 30 years. Together they built a one-room cottage and worked on the island, despite a lack of electricity and running water. The freedom of simple island living motivated Tove to write The Summer Book (1972), the tale of a grandmother and granddaughter exploring a small Finnish island over one summer, based on her niece Sophia’s relationship with Ham.

“Tove’s extended Moomin cast are intimately inspired by her family, friends and lovers in Helsinki’s cultural circles and lesbian community," said co-curator Paul Gravett. "Brilliant across so many literary and artistic expressions, her lifelong celebration of inclusivity and individuality has never been more inspiring and necessary.”

Roleff Kråkström, Managing Director at Moomin Characters, added: “London holds a unique place in Moomin history, as the Moomin comic strip was created for and first published in the London Evening News. While Tove is celebrated around the world as the creator of the Moomin stories, this exhibition offers a fantastic opportunity to explore the exceptional breadth of her artistic talent, as well as the role of her family and wider circle of artistic influences in shaping her life and work.”