Unseen Tove Jansson Drawings Head to London in UK's First Illustration-Focused Show
From 21 November to 9 May, the Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration in Clerkenwell, London, will showcase over 100 pieces, including previously unseen drawings by Tove Jansson. This exhibition, titled Tove Jansson and her Families, marks the first time her illustrations are featured in the UK, coinciding with the 25th anniversary of her passing. The display will include sketches, photographs, films, and letters, with highlights such as an early draft cover for Moominpappa at Sea and original artwork from The Moomins and the Great Flood. Sophia Jansson emphasized her aunt's creativity, while guest curator Paul Gravett remarked on the ongoing significance of the novels. Jansson's wartime cartoons and the inaugural Moomin comic strip were released in 1954, and the Moomin series has sold around 30 million copies.
Key facts
- Tove Jansson and her Families opens 21 November and runs to 9 May at the Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration, Clerkenwell, London
- The exhibition features more than 100 exhibits and is billed as the UK's first show focused on Jansson's illustrations
- It opens 25 years after Jansson's death
- Previously unseen material includes an early draft cover for Moominpappa at Sea showing Moominpappa with a giant shell
- Original art from The Moomins and the Great Flood, her first published book, will be displayed
- The Moomin books were written and illustrated between 1945 and 1977 and have sold up to 30m copies
- They have been translated into more than 60 languages
- Jansson's first Moomin comic strip launched in London's Evening News in 1954
- The first English edition of The Hobbit with Jansson's illustrations is published this month by HarperCollins
- Guest curator Paul Gravett is working on a Jansson book following his 2022 study of her illustration work
Entities
Artists
- Tove Jansson
- Sophia Jansson
- Paul Gravett
- Lewis Carroll
- JRR Tolkien
- Adolf Hitler
- Joseph Stalin
Institutions
- Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration
- Moomin Characters
- Dulwich Picture Gallery
- HarperCollins
- Evening News
- Guardian
Locations
- London
- United Kingdom
- Clerkenwell
- Finland
- Moominvalley
- Sweden