Helander is auctioning Moomins created in Japan in the 1970s

The Moomins turn 80 this year. Helander Auction is celebrating in the most wonderful way: we are offering nine drawings by Tove Jansson from the 1970s as part of the next Weekly Auction. They capture an evening in Tokyo.

In 1970, Tove Jansson received an invitation from Japanese television to visit Japan. However, instead of the round-trip flight offered by the company, Tove requested two one-way train tickets. This began the enriching journey of Tove and her life partner Tuulikki Pietilä, traveling across Russia and Asia all the way to Japan, from where their trip continued on to Hawaii, Mexico, and the United States.

At that time, Kari Härkönen was serving as a diplomat in Japan and lived with his family at the embassy. While in Japan, Tove and Tuulikki kept in touch with the Finnish Embassy, and eventually, Kari’s wife, Riitta Härkönen, wanted to assist the travelers, driving them from place to place. Late in her pregnancy, she could barely fit behind the wheel of their small Datsun: her older son Jari’s sister, Mariko, would be born later that same year.

During their journey, Tove also came to the Härkönen family home for dinner. Jari Härkönen describes himself as a very wild child at the time, only five years old. When dinner moved to the living room for coffee, the five-year-old couldn’t sit still, and the couch cushions were tossed about as the child jumped up and down.

Tove asked for pens and paper – perhaps sensing what would captivate the energetic child. Amidst their conversation, lines drawn on the paper gradually formed one familiar character after another: Snufkin under the fair-weather clouds puffing on his pipe, and the sensitive Little My, who is picking a flower for someone. Particularly evident in the drawings is their moment of creation, where the characters explore a completely new environment and culture. In them, Little My and Moomintroll are dressed in traditional Japanese attire. Jari believes the Moomins were undoubtedly on Tove’s mind during this time, as the invitation from Japanese television was directly related to the Moomin animations, which had recently started being made in Japan.

The drawings remained a treasured collection in the Härkönen family. They were framed and displayed in the rooms of the children, Jari and Mariko, and since then, the drawings have traveled with both of them from one home to another. Some of the drawings were also loaned to the Ateneum Art Museum for an exhibition celebrating Tove Jansson’s 100th anniversary in 2014.

Now, it is time for the Moomins to continue their journey.

The lots are up for bidding in the Weekly Auction from February 24th to March 9th, 2025.

The Weekly Auction catalog is now open, and the lots can be bid on starting Monday, February 24th. The lots will close starting from 3:00 PM on Sunday, March 9th. You are welcome to explore the lots in Viinikk, Helsinki, at Hernepellonkuja 8–10. We are open Monday to Friday from 12:00 PM to 6:00 PM, and on Saturday from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM.