The Dulwich Picture Gallery will present a major UK retrospective of the illustrator Tove Jansson in Autumn 2017.
One of the most celebrated illustrators of the 20th century, Tove Jansson was known internationally as creator of the Moomin characters and books, but her wider output of work including graphic illustration and painting are relatively unseen outside her home country of Finland.
This first UK retrospective of her work will display 159 of the illustrator’s works including a large body of self-portraits, landscapes and still-life’s never seen before in the UK and a series of Moomin drawings only this year discovered at the British Cartoon Archive.
Tracing the key points of her career, the exhibition will be arranged thematically to reintroduce her work to UK audiences.
Talking about the news Sophia Jansson, creative director of Moomin Characters and Tove Jansson’s niece, said: “It was hugely important to Tove that she be recognised as a talented fine artist in addition to being the creator of the Moomins. Balancing her painting and her other projects alongside the demands that the Moomins made of her was something she struggled with all her life. I’m delighted that Dulwich Picture Gallery is putting on this exhibition which will make Tove’s wider artistic output accessible to a UK audience, who may not yet be familiar with her work outside of Moominvalley.”
Organised in collaboration with Ateneum Art Museum, the display will reveal the artist’s passion that kept her working over the years as well as exhibiting as an accomplished fine artist alongside a career in graphic illustration.
Sointu Fritze, curator of the exhibition, said:”Tove Jansson’s works convey a profound understanding of human diversity. This show will reveal fascinating new insights into a colourful life and the work that came out of it.”
The Dulwich Picture Gallery’s display of work by Tove Jansson will be available to visit from the 25th October 2017- 28th January 2018. For more information visit: http://www.dulwichpicturegallery.org.uk/whats-on/exhibitions/2017/october/tove-jansson/.