artist: Tuulikki Pietilä (Finnish 1917-2009)
medium: watercolour on paper
dimensions: 40 x 30cm image size / 56 x 46 1/2 cm framed size (approx)
signed on front
also signed and dated 195? on label verso of artwork
circa 1950s
presented in a new frame with double thickness archival mat, UV museum glass and hand finished timber frame
AU $1745 (approx US $1100 / 1040 EUROS / 165,000 yen / 905 GBP)
artist biography
Ida Helmi Tuulikki Pietilä was a Finnish artist, graphic artist and teacher born in Seattle, Washington, on 18th February 1917.
Pietilä began her studies at the Turku drawing school, which she attended from 1933 to 1936, followed by study at the drawing school of the Finnish art association from 1936 to 1940, the University College of Arts, Crafts and Design in Stockholm between 1945 and 1949 and the Fernand Léger Art Academy in Paris from 1949 to 1953. During her studies, she met her partner Tove Jansson. They collaborated on many works and projects, including the Moomin works, in collaboration with Pentti Eistola. These are now exhibited at the Moomin museum in Tampere. Pietilä inspired the energetic figure Tooticky in Jansson's Moomin books. Pietilä's brother was architect Reima Pietilä.
Jansson's and Pietilä's travels and summers spent together on the Klovharu island in Pellinki have been captured on several hours of film, shot by Pietilä. Several documentaries have been made of this footage, the latest being ‘Haru, yksinäinen saari’ (Haru, the lonely island) (1998) and ‘Tove ja Tooti Euroopassa’ (Tove and Tooti in Europe) (2004).
Pietilä's debut exhibition was in Turku, Finland in 1935. Throughout her career she exhibited extensively in Finland and overseas. She was awarded the Pro Finlandia medal in 1963 and was an honourary member of Finnish Printmakers Association. Pietilä was one of the most influential people in Finnish graphic arts. She worked as a teacher in the Academy of Fine Arts, Helsinki, for many years, and later trained graphic artists and wrote instructional books about graphic arts.
Pietilä died in Helsinki at her home on 23 February 2009, aged 92.