Just a few short months ago, the Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration opened its doors in Clerkenwell. Immediately, it made a splash with some charming exhibitions that explored its namesake’s own art, as well as queer representation in comic books, and more. And the museum has just announced details of its winter programme, including an exhibition devoted to the creator of the Moomins, Tove Jansson.
Tove Jansson and her Families will open at the Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration on November 21. It will be the UK’s first-ever exhibition focusing on Tove’s work. The exhibition will also encompass the people who shaped her life and will feature previously unseen original pieces from the illustrator.
The Moomins exhibition
At the core of the Tove Jansson and her Families exhibition is an exploration of how her community, friends, and family influenced her work. You can spot her nearest and dearest in everything she made.
Exhibition Co-curator Paul Gravett said:
“Tove’s extended Moomin cast are intimately inspired by her family, friends and lovers in Helsinki’s cultural circles and lesbian community. Brilliant across so many literary and artistic expressions, her lifelong celebration of inclusivity and individuality has never been more inspiring and necessary.”
The exhibition will feature “previously unseen drawings and over 100 rarely-seen sketches, paintings, illustrations and photographs made by Tove Jansson (1914–2001) and those closest to her.”
Pieces in the exhibition encompass everything from the first published Moomin book, Småtrollen och den stora översvåmningen (The Moomins and the Great Flood, 1945), to Tove’s childhood drawings, large-scale post-war murals, and early original illustrations for a Swedish edition of Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland (1966).
Part of the exhibition explores where Tove’s creativity came from. Her mother, Signe Hammarsten Jansson, was a stamp designer who drew every day, and her father was a sculptor. As a result, she was surrounded by art growing up and developed an early love of illustration.
Further to that, the exhibition will cover Tove’s early career as well as the beginning of her artistry and the origins of the beloved Moomins. It then ranges through her life – across family holidays and annual summer trips with her life partner, Tuulikki Pietilä, and beyond.
🎟️ Find out more and grab your tickets here.
🕰️ ‘Tove Jansson and her Families’ will run from November 21, 2026 until May 9, 2027.
📍 Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration, 1 Myddelton Passage, EC1R 1AG.
🚇 The nearest station is Angel.
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