Ida Helmi Tuulikki Pietilä (18 February 1917 – 23 February 2009) was an American-born Finnish graphic artist and professor. Pietilä is considered one of Finland's most influential graphic artists, with her work being shown in multiple art exhibitions. She worked as a teacher at the

Academy of Fine Arts, Helsinki The Academy of Fine Arts (; ) in Helsinki, Finland is part of the University of the Arts Helsinki and provides the highest university-level theoretical and practical training in the country in fine arts. Academy The Academy was founded in 184 ...

, and later trained graphic artists and wrote multiple books about graphic arts.

Personal life

Pietilä was born in Seattle, Washington, United States, before moving with her parents to Finland as a child. Pietilä had a brother,

Reima Pietilä Frans Reima Ilmari Pietilä (25 August 1923 – 26 August 1993) was a Finnish architect and theorist. He did most of his work together with his wife Raili Pietilä; after 1963 all their works were officially attributed to "Raili and Reima Pietil ...

, who was a noted architect. Pietilä died in 2009 in Helsinki, at the age of 92. She bequeathed more than 1,400 pieces of art to

Ateneum Ateneum is an art museum in Helsinki, Finland and one of the three museums forming the Finnish National Gallery. It is located in the centre of Helsinki on the south side of Rautatientori square close to Helsinki Central railway station. It has ...

Career

Pietilä started her studies at (now the TUAS Arts Academy at

Turku University of Applied Sciences Turku University of Applied Sciences (abbr. ''TUAS'', Finnish ''Turun ammattikorkeakoulu'') is a multidisciplinary higher education institution in the city of Turku and Salo in Southwest Finland. The institute began operations as a temporary po ...

), where she attended between 1933 and 1936. She went on to study at the drawing school of the Finnish Art Association between 1936 and 1940; the University College of Arts, Crafts and Design in

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

between 1945 and 1949; and the Fernand Léger Art Academy in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

between 1949 and 1953. During her studies she met the artist

Tove Jansson Tove Marika Jansson (; 9 August 1914 – 27 June 2001) was a Swedish-speaking Finnish author, novelist, painter, illustrator and comic strip author. Brought up by artistic parents, Jansson studied art from 1930 to 1938 in Helsinki, Stockholm, ...

, who later became her life partner. Pietilä's work covered many mediums, including

woodcuts Woodcut is a relief printing technique in printmaking. An artist carves an image into the surface of a block of wood—typically with Chisel#Gouge, gouges—leaving the printing parts level with the surface while removing the non-printing parts ...

and linographs, and utilised multiple styles, including

realism Realism, Realistic, or Realists may refer to: In the arts *Realism (arts), the general attempt to depict subjects truthfully in different forms of the arts Arts movements related to realism include: *American Realism *Classical Realism *Liter ...

and

cubism Cubism is an early-20th-century avant-garde art movement which began in Paris. It revolutionized painting and the visual arts, and sparked artistic innovations in music, ballet, literature, and architecture. Cubist subjects are analyzed, broke ...

. The first exhibition of Pietilä's work was held in

Turku Turku ( ; ; , ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Southwest Finland. It is located on the southwestern coast of the country at the mouth of the Aura River (Finland), River Aura. The population of Turku is approximately , while t ...

in 1935 when she was a student. Her first private exhibition was in 1951. From 1967, she participated in the Purnu group's summer exhibitions, and a retrospective exhibition of her work there was held in 1986. Pietilä garnered acclaim for her work, and was awarded the

Order of the Lion of Finland Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * A socio-political or established or existing order, e.g. World order, Ancien Regime, Pax Britannica * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood ...

in 1963; she became a professor at the Academy of Fine Arts, Helsinki, where she had previously been a student, in 1982.

Relationship with Tove Jansson

Pietilä met Jansson in 1955; they went on to become romantic partners until Jansson's death in 2001. Pietilä and Jansson collaborated on many projects, including many related to Jansson's characters, the

Moomins The Moomins (, ) are the central characters in a series of novels, short stories, picture books, and a comic strip by the Finnish writer and illustrator Tove Jansson, originally published in Swedish by Finnish publisher Schildts. They are a ...

; 43 three-dimensional pieces created by Pietilä are now exhibited at the Moomin Museum in

Tampere Tampere is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Pirkanmaa. It is located in the Finnish Lakeland. The population of Tampere is approximately , while the metropolitan area has a population of approximately . It is the most populous mu ...

. Pietilä is believed to be the inspiration for the character

Too-Ticky A large number of characters appear in the ''Moomin'' series by Tove Jansson. The original Swedish names are given with the etymologies and word associations suggested by Yvonne Bertills in her 2003 dissertation. Main characters Moomintroll ...

in the Moomin books. Pietilä and Jansson spent many summers on in Pellinki; these travels were documented by Pietilä in several hours of film. Several documentaries have been made from this footage, including ''Haru, yksinäinen saari'' (''Haru, the lonely island''; 1998) and ''Tove ja Tooti Euroopassa'' (''Tove and Tooti in Europe'', 2004). Pietilä was Jansson's companion at the

Presidential Palace A presidential palace is the official residence of the president in some countries. Some presidential palaces were once the official residences to monarchs in former monarchies that were preserved during those states' transition into republics. ...

Independence Day reception The Independence Day Reception (; ) is an annual event organised by the President of Finland at the Presidential Palace, Helsinki, Presidential Palace in Helsinki on 6 December, Independence Day (Finland), Finland's Independence Day. Invitations a ...

in 1992; they have retrospectively been described as being the first female same-sex couple to attend the event as guests.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pietila, Tuulikki 1917 births 2009 deaths Finnish graphic designers Finnish women graphic designers Finnish lesbian artists Moomins Tove Jansson Pro Finlandia Medals of the Order of the Lion of Finland Academic staff of the University of the Arts Helsinki Konstfack alumni American people of Finnish descent 20th-century Finnish women artists American women graphic designers American graphic designers American emigrants to Finland