Art as heritage and lifestyle – Artist Family Jansson exhibition explores an extraordinary family
The Artist Family Jansson is an exceptional treasure of Finnish cultural history. The family’s creative work forms the basis for the renovated Tove Jansson Gallery, which will open at HAM Helsinki Art Museum in February 2026. Spanning three exhibition halls, the gallery is built around a permanent collection of frescoes, but also looks deeper beneath the surface: art as a way of life, the family as the core of creativity, and Tove as an artist who dared to boldly forge her own path both in Helsinki and around the world.
The Janssons – one of the most important families in Finnish art history
The Swedish-speaking Jansson family is exceptional in Finnish cultural history. Every member of the family of five worked in the arts, and their collective creative output ranges from public sculptures and frescoes to literature, photography, comics, and postage stamps.
The parents, graphic designer and illustrator Signe “Ham” Hammarsten Jansson and sculptor Viktor “Faffan” Jansson, raised their family in the early decades of the 20th century in a world shaken by wars and major social changes. Everyday life was not always easy, but art was approached with uncompromising seriousness — and joy. Ham and Faffan provided their children with an environment where creativity was a way of life.
This home was where Tove, art photographer and writer Per Olov Jansson, and comic artist and writer Lars Jansson grew up. Everyday life and work were merged in the bohemian home: art supplies, books, and ideas filled the space, and the home served as both a studio and a meeting place for friends and parties.
From an early age, Tove Jansson was accustomed to creating her own art. Becoming a visual artist was a natural choice for young Tove, and her father, Viktor, in particular, encouraged his daughter to pursue a career in art.
The Jansson family home at Lallukka Artist House served as the family’s residence, studio, and gathering place for friends from 1933 onwards. The space was filled with Viktor Jansson’s sculptures and sketches, often modelled on family members. Tove returned to this atmosphere in her book The Sculptor’s Daughter (1969).
A home where art was part of everyday life
The opening exhibition of the renovated gallery, The Artist Family Jansson, invites visitors into a home where art was not just a profession or a calling, but part of everyday life. The exhibition broadens the perspective from the individual artist to the family and the creative environment in which each family member’s artistic work was created. In this home, creativity was reflected in the courage to experiment, make mistakes, and find one’s own way of seeing the world.
Sculptor Viktor Jansson rose to prominence in 1911 with his powerful and controversial sculptures. He created around 230 works during his career, and after his early detailed figures, his style shifted towards a more simplified and clear-cut expression under European influences.
Photographs, works of art, and objects offer an intimate glimpse into the Jansson family’s everyday life: shared trips, adventures in the archipelago, celebrations, and quiet moments of work. The atmosphere of their home, their close relationships, and shared experiences were transformed over time into stories and visual worlds – all the way to Moominvalley.
The exhibition Artist Family Jansson brings the creative process to life
The Artist Family Jansson exhibition features over 140 works and objects that paint a multidimensional picture of the Jansson family’s life. The exhibition includes 50 drawings, dozens of stamps, and over 20 ex libris, banknote, and stamp designs by Signe Hammarsten Jansson. Her precise, humorous, and intelligent lines are given their own spatial dimension in the form of a wallpaper wall composed of caricatures.
Signe Hammarsten Jansson created over 800 sharp-eyed and humorous caricatures of artists and cultural figures of her time, which were published in Finnish and Swedish magazines from the 1910s onwards. Her drawings were characterised by keen observation and striking recognizability achieved with just a few strokes of the pen. Pictured here is her husband, Viktor Jansson.Viktor Jansson’s signature style is evident in more than ten miniature sculptures, which emphasise human figures and the expressive power of the material. In addition to the permanently displayed frescoes, Tove’s works on display include paintings, drawings, magazine cover illustrations, and bookplates — works that place her alongside the Moomins as a determined and ambitious visual artist. The exhibition reinforces Tove Jansson’s artistic legacy and significance in Finnish society and art history.
In this 1954 photo, Tove Jansson is drawing comics, which she regularly did for The Evening News starting in 1954. In 1960, she handed over the drawing of the comics to her brother Lars, who continued Tove’s style with new material until 1975. Photo: Finnish Heritage AgencyTove’s younger brothers’ work also receives the attention it deserves in the exhibition, highlighting the family’s courage in trying different art forms. Lars’s work is represented in sculptures, books, and original comics, while Per Olov’s sensitive, perceptive photographs and books complete the family portrait.
Like his mother and siblings, Lars Jansson was a skilled storyteller. His first novel, Skatten på Tortuga, was published when Lars was only 15 years old. The cover illustration was done by his mother, Signe.Art you can touch – and experience
The renovated Tove Jansson Gallery is designed for all ages. The worlds of children and adults meet in a space where curiosity and activity are encouraged. One wall is covered with hatches, behind which you can find the inhabitants of Moominvalley, who resemble members of the Jansson family. On the tables are the illustrator and sculptor’s tools, from red chalk to hammers and from scrap cardboard to chisels.
Visitors can also touch the sculptor’s materials – black diabase from Varpaisjärvi and light pink granite from Korpijärvi – and try their hand at caricature drawing. What features would you like to exaggerate, what would you like to highlight?
Courage and working together
The courage of the Jansson family and the power of working together have been the starting point for the renovation of HAM’s Tove Jansson Gallery. The Tove Jansson Gallery has been created in collaboration between HAM and Moomin Characters, founded by Tove and Lars Jansson in the 1950s. The exhibition has been curated by HAM’s Tove Jansson experts, Curator Heli Harni and Audience Engagement Specialist Lotta Kjellberg.
The exhibition is open from February 13, 2026, to January 10, 2027, and celebrates the 80th anniversary of the book Comet in Moominland, with the theme “We’re braver together.”
