In 1942, newly moved out of her family’s Helsinki apartment and living on her own, the Finnish artist Tove Jansson painted a self-portrait. She gave herself a cool confidence: steely gaze, striped brown coat, a lynx stole draped around her neck. “I look like a cat in my yellow fur,” she wrote to a friend. “I don’t know yet whether it’s good or bad, I simply paint.”
Jansson may not have been sure of the work’s quality at the time, but I am: It’s marvelous. Through her brilliant use of color, the focused look in her eyes, the subtle flowers in the background, and the swaggering outfit (the lynx stole was purchased while in a “reckless mood,” according to her biographer Boel Westin), Jansson channeled a clear point of view. On the cusp of 30 and with the Second World War raging around her, the young artist braced herself for what was ahead. She was watchful, a bit defiant, bold.
Tove Jansson, Lynx Boa, 1942. © Tove Jansson.© Moomin Characters.
What Jansson also didn’t know in 1942 was that in a few short years, she would reach a level of fame even she, ambitious as she was, couldn’t have imagined. Tove Jansson, after all, is the creator of the Moomins: the snow white, long-snouted, hippo-like creatures that have captivated millions around the world since they appeared in 1945’s The Moomins and the Great Flood, the first of nine Moomin children’s books that Jansson wrote and illustrated. Moominmamma, Moominpappa, Moomintroll, and their cast of fantastical friends have been the stars of spin-off books, comic strips, television shows, theme parks, plush toys, and even an opera.
And it’s not just that they’re cute. The Moomins are philosophical in a way that cuts through typical kids’ entertainment, which is why they have enchanted readers of all ages for generations. Like their creator, the Moomins are poets, delivering lessons on friendship, loneliness, loss, and acceptance. They might as well be the official mascots of Finland for how popular they are there, though their fame stretches far beyond the Nordic country. Jansson remains Finland’s most widely translated author; her books have been published in more than 60 languages.