tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-68830544220522275972024-03-08T09:09:21.940-08:00IlustracionesSummerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03250499834782775345noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6883054422052227597.post-76784381227445543122020-01-04T13:16:00.004-08:002020-01-04T13:20:11.602-08:00
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Summerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03250499834782775345noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6883054422052227597.post-34202086240640527292020-01-02T12:42:00.000-08:002020-01-02T12:47:58.089-08:00Ilon Wikland<h3 style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Ilon Wikland</b><b> is an Estonian-</b><b>Swedish</b><b> </b><b>artist and illustrator, renowned for her illustrations for the world-famous Swedish children author Astrid Lindgren.</b></h3>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Born in Tartu in 1930, and raised in
Haapsalu, on Estonia’s western coast, Wikland fled from the Soviet
occupation of Estonia in 1944 and found a safe haven in Sweden.<br />
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
A talented illustrator, she applied for a
job as illustrator at Rabén & Sjögren in 1953 and was introduced to
Lindgren, who had just finished writing the book <i>Mio, my Son</i> and
who could see immediately that Wikland was able to “draw fairy tales”.
Wikland did a test-drawing for the book and this was the start of the
long-term collaboration with Lindgren. Wikland later said Lindgren’s
writing made her see inner pictures. In the same way that Lindgren wrote
for “the child within her”, Wikland often also drew for the child
within her.<br />
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Among other Lindgren’s books, Wikland illustrated <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Six_Bullerby_Children" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><i>The Bullerby Children</i></a>; <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Brothers_Lionheart" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><i>The Brothers Lionheart</i></a>; <a href="http://www.astridlindgren.com/en/characters/karlsson-roof" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><i>Karlsson-on-the-Roof</i></a>; and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronia_the_Robber%27s_Daughter" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><i>Ronya, the Robber’s Daughter</i></a><i>.</i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Madli Jõks caught up with Wikland to talk about her grand portfolio.<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://estonianworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Ilon-Wikland-Bullerby-II.jpg"><img alt="Ilon Wikland Bullerby II" class="alignnone wp-image-15010 size-full" height="494" src="https://estonianworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Ilon-Wikland-Bullerby-II.jpg" title=""The Six Bullerby Children" illustration by Ilon Wikland." width="685" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
<br />
They’re like old friends to me: <i>Children of Bullerby</i>; <i>Ronya, the Robber´s Daughter</i><i>; Little Tjorven;</i>
and all the others. I know and remember them from my childhood and
think back at them as if they had really existed in my life. And,
although their stories from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrid_Lindgren" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Astrid Lindgren</a>
were brilliant, I would probably never have been that affected, if the
characters had not been brought to life by the magnificent illustrations
of Ilon Wikland. I remember looking at the pictures again and again,
trying to figure out which exact moment from the story was on every one
of them.<br />
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Now I had an amazing opportunity to meet
all of my childhood favourites in original at Ilon Wikland’s jubilee
exhibition in Berlin at <a href="http://www.lesart.org/en/z_index.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">LesArt</a>, the Berlin Centre for Children’s and Youth’s Literature.<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://estonianworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/WP_20150225_16_12_21_Pro.jpg"><img alt="WP_20150225_16_12_21_Pro" class="alignright wp-image-15015" height="506" src="https://estonianworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/WP_20150225_16_12_21_Pro.jpg" title=""The Six Bullerby Children" illustration by Ilon Wikland." width="351" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
<br />
Wikland, widely known and recognised
children’s books’ illustrator, was born in Estonia in 1930 and spent her
childhood in Haapsalu, but moved to Sweden as a war refugee at the age
of 14. However, tragic destiny led to lucky chance: in Sweden, nine
years later she met Astrid Lindgren, who became her dear friend and a
work partner for decades.<br />
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Illustrations for Lindgren’s books are
the ones Wikland is mostly known for, but she has also illustrated books
of several other authors (for example Ann Mari Falk, Marlen Haushofer,
Hans Peterson), and even fairy tales from Hans Christian Andersen and
brothers Grimm, as well as some non-fiction books. Now 85, she is still
active and from 2005 onwards, she has cooperated with children’s books’
author Mark Levengood.<br />
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
At the exhibition in LesArt, more than
150 Wiklands works – drawings, aquarelles and pastels – can be seen. In
addition to the illustrations, free drawings and fashion sketches are
presented. This is the first Wikland’s overview exhibition in Germany.<br />
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Harry Liivrand, the Estonian cultural
attaché in Berlin, writes in the exhibition brochure that the most
important goal of the exhibition was to bring out the autobiographic
background of Wiklands works – to emphasise the elements of Estonia and
Haapsalu that are often depicted in her works. The Estonian ambassador
to Berlin, Kaja Tael, adds that the idea to bring Wikland’s exhibition
to Germany was born from the knowledge that the Germans share Estonian
love for Lindgrens’ books.<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://estonianworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Karlson.jpg"><img alt="Karlson" class="alignnone wp-image-15013 size-full" height="728" src="https://estonianworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Karlson.jpg" title=""Karlsson-on-the-Roof" illustration by Ilon Wikland." width="1024" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
For me, visiting the exhibition felt
somehow more than just visiting an art exhibition – it felt like meeting
a part of my childhood again. And the pictures were still as great as
they were back then. I walked from one exhibition room to another, a
smile in my face, marvelling at the preciseness of the paintings and the
naturalness of the characters.<br />
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
As a grownup, I understand why I admired
the pictures as a kid and preferred books with them to all the other
ones: Wikland doesn’t cheat. The characters, the rooms and other objects
in the pictures look like they looked in the story, details are right
and interesting. Wikland understands that children are the most
attentive audience.<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://estonianworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Ilon-Wikland-illustration.jpg"><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-22810" src="https://estonianworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Ilon-Wikland-illustration.jpg" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
<br />
Wikland says that before drawing, she
always reads the text several times very carefully and only when she
understands it very well, she begins to draw. “The text is most
important,” she says.<br />
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
It seems to me that for a great artist
as she is, she has surprisingly little ambition to interpret things in
her own way. But the willingness to work with the author has probably
made her that great as an illustrator. And perhaps this is why a child,
looking at her pictures, never has to be disappointed about how the
characters or a scene looks like.<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://estonianworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/WP_20150225_16_15_08_Pro.jpg"><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-15016" src="https://estonianworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/WP_20150225_16_15_08_Pro.jpg" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
<br />
When I ask Wikland about her
relationship and cooperation with Lindgren, which lasted for 40 years,
she also emphasises the great understanding between them about the
content of the story. “We always talked everything through and she was
very willing to answer all of my questions. Our cooperation with Astrid
was really smooth and it was a beautiful and good time,” she recalls.<br />
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
In those 70 years Wikland has worked as
an illustrator, has there been one book that she would bring out as a
favourite or a very special one? Without a second hesitation she
answers: this would be Lindgren’s <i>Brothers Lionheart</i>. “It’s a
very important book to me and I like the story very much – it contains a
lot of topics, that in my opinion, a child has to learn to understand.”<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://estonianworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Brothers-Lionheart.png"><img alt="Brothers Lionheart" class="alignnone wp-image-15023" height="393" src="https://estonianworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Brothers-Lionheart.png" title=""Brothers Lionheart" illustration by Ilon Wikland." width="620" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
<br />
Wikland’s style has developed a lot over
time. Her first illustrations were black and white graphical works,
later she mostly used watercolours and pastels. Wikland says that the
depicted characters became livelier as time moved on. She thinks that in
her earlier works it was noticeable that back then she had no children
of her own yet.<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://estonianworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/WP_20150225_16_07_11_Pro.jpg"><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-22814" src="https://estonianworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/WP_20150225_16_07_11_Pro.jpg" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
<br />
She says the cooperation with Levengood
has given her the opportunity to develop a new direction. “I find it
very important to constantly change and evolve my drawing style. You
can’t draw the same way all the time,” says the grand lady of
illustrations, who could have given up trying to be better decades ago,
and still be an absolutely excellent illustrator.<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://estonianworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/WP_20150225_15_56_36_Pro.jpg"><img alt="" class="alignright wp-image-22811" height="396" src="https://estonianworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/WP_20150225_15_56_36_Pro.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
I
have always thought that pictures like Wiklands’ have to be drawn with
an intention to show the world as a child sees it, but Wikland says that
she has always drawn just the way she herself likes it.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Maybe she is just one of those lucky
people who haven’t forgotten how the world looks like for a child.
Although, her own childhood wasn’t an easy one at all. The divorce of
her parents and the leaving of her mother, escaping to Sweden alone on a
refugee ship and a serious illness were the challenges she had to live
through as a child.<br />
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Wikland says that Lindgren probably
understood what kind of life experience she had gone through, and her
desire for a secure childhood reflected in her drawings.<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://estonianworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Ilon-Wikland-Bullerby.jpg"><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-15011" src="https://estonianworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Ilon-Wikland-Bullerby.jpg" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
<br />
Can the illustrator herself explain why
so many people find her style that touching? “All along, I’ve been
trying to paint emotions,” she says, “So that a person, looking at my
paintings, could see the feelings.” And this is probably the very
answer.</div>
Summerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03250499834782775345noreply@blogger.com0