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(Georg) Henrik Tikkanen (1924-1984) | |
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Swedish-language Finnish author and artist, art director of Sanoma Ltd. Henrik Tikkanen's breakthrough serie after some 40 books, Brändövägen 8 (1975, A Winter's Day / Snob's Island), Bävervägen 11 (1976), Mariegatan 26 (1977), and Georgsgatan (1980), depicted his own life, work. and loves in satirical light. In these confessional novels the titles referred to the addresses, where his family lived at the time. Henriksgatan (1982), a diary from 50 days in 1982, was loosely connected to the series. "And the fact that Brändö [Kulosaari], like Switzerland, was never subjected to any serious bombing in the Second World War gradually made him feel almost like a citizen of a neutral state, even though of course he had his own preferences and antipathies. These he aired at the Stock Exchange Club, where each day he took his death-defying route over the narrow wooden bridge past two petrol tanks and a gasworks. Sometime he was in such a bad shape when he returned that, like the bold von Essen in The Tales of Ensign Stål, he had to be carried up the stairs."Brändövägen 8, Brändö, tel. 35 by Henrik Tikkanen, 1975; in Helsinki: A Literary Companion, edited by Hildi Hawkins and Soila Lehtonen, Helsinki: Finnish Literature Society, 2000) Henrik Tikkanen was born in Helsinki, the son of Toivo Robert Tikkanen, an architect, who died of drinking, and Kyllikki Ingeborg (Vitali) Tikkanen. His great-grandfather, Paavo Tikkanen, had been one of the founders the first major Finnish-language newspaper, Suometar, and his grandfather was the professor J. J. Tikkanen (1857-1930), who made a pioneering work in the Finnish art history. As a boy, Tikkanen was a zealous patriot, joining the civilian
defense corps at fourteen. With his brother Ulf, he began to contribute
to the comics series Konrad, which was published in the newspaper Svenska
Pressen between 1941 and 1944. In 1943 Tikkanen graduated from the
secondary school. During the last years of the Continuation War, he
served in the army as volunteer in the Nyland's Dragoons. His cartoons
appeared in the magazine Korsulukemisto. Desperate to get away from the front line, Tikkanen shot himself in the
arm. After the war Tikkanen began to study art at the University of
Helsinki (1945-47). His drawings and illustrations were
published in Aatami, Kuva, Ystäväni, Novellilukemisto
100, Viuhka, Helsingfors-Journalen, and Garm.
In Sweden his art appeared in such magazines as Pin up, Coctail, and Top Hat. With the vague idea of making a book together, Tikkanen
traveled in 1948 with the poet Arvo Turtianen
to Italy. Turtiainen's aim was also to witness the parliamentary
elections there. Ideologically, they had little in common, but both
were heavy users of alcohol, and had nightmares of the war. While in
Milan, Tikkanen headed to a brothel and Turtiainen went to hear the
Communist leader Palmiro Togliatti's speech. After a fight, their ways
separared in Rome. This drunken odyssey was later featured in Aapo
Kukko's graphic novel Sosialisti ja
nihilisti (2019). It was partly inspired by Dennis Potter's television serial drama The Singing Detective
(1986), especially in the way Potter dealt with time, place, and
memories. What becomes of the book plan by Tikkanen and Turtiainen, it
was never realized. Between the years 1947 and 1967 Tikkanen worked as a
journalist, columnist,
and illustrator for the Finland-Swedish newspaper Hufvudstadsbladet.
There he collaborated with Benedict Zilliacus, who wrote poems under
the pseudonyms of 'Bez,' 'Jan,' and 'J.' Tikkanen's dream was to
be the best newspaper illustrator in the world. His models were Albert
Engström, Honoré Daumier and Birger Lundqvist. From 1967 Tikkanen worked at the Helsingin Sanomat as an art director. In addition, he wrote a lot of columns illustrated by his own drawings, which, naturally, crossed all langiage barries. Tikkanen's elegant line formed an essential part of the image of Finland's largest newpaper, in which its top cartoonists, Tikkanen, a leftist liberal, somewhat of a nihilist, and Kari Suomalainen ("Kari"), a conservative with a sharp political sense, were opposite to each other. This was a set up which the publisher, Aatos Erkko, fully accepted, until Suomalainen's chauvinism and racial quips turned out to be a burden for the whole media company. As
an artist Tikkanen had his first exhibition in 1947. His
works were also shown in Sweden, Denmark, Germany, England, and China.
In 1980 Tikkanen
had an
exhibition at Morley Gallery, a part of the Arts Centre in Morley
College, London. Tikkanen was reluctant to participate in collective
exhibitions, especially after his drawing were rejected from the 1971
three year exhibition of the Finnish Art Academy. Not accepting the decision, Tikkanen brought it into public debate – all the
sympathy was on his side. Tikkanen's
most successful exhibitions in Finland were at the Galerie Hörhammer in
1975 and at the Amos Anderson Art Museum in 1979. From early on, Tikkanen develop a habit of drawing with a light touch. He used only a few strokes to build the figures, sometimes in hesitating, sensitive manner, sometimes with freely and firmly running lines. His erotic sketches illustrated among others Christer Kihlman's book De nakna och de saliga (1983) and his posthumously published collection of aphorisms Testamenttini elämälle (1992). Other subjects were faįades of old and new buildings of Helsinki, scenes from his journeys, and people. The character of the Grim Reaper, violence, and death were Tikkanen's recurrent motifs. Mr. Gogo kommer till Europa,
Tikkanen's first novel, appeared in 1946. In the satirical story an ape, Mr. Gogo, arrives in Europe as an African
cultural attaché, and discovers in the social flurry that Western system leads to war,
fascism, and insanity. Hufvudstadsbladet
wrote that the book is not as funny as intended. "Det finns lustiga
episoder i Henrik Tikkanens bok, men all saften har han inte lyckats
krama ut citronen. Allt är inte so rolig som det är meningen att vara."
('Två debutanter' by P. o. B., Hufvudstadsbladet, No. 263, 17.10.1946, p. 7) Turtiainen gave the work a good review, but
Tikkanen himself later dismissed it as childish. Hjältarna är döda (1961), a roman ā clef, depicted the world of artists and returning soldiers in Helsinki after the Continuation War. Many of characters were recognizable from real life. A reviewer in Helsingin Sanomat thought that the portrayals were very realistic but superfial. "Tikkanen piirtelee ihmisistään joitakin sattuvia lähikuvia, sangen realistisia, ehkä rehellisiä, mutta pinnallisia." ('Romaanikokeilu' by T. R. U., Helsingin Sanomat, No. 232, 29.08.1961, p. 15) Tikkanen's alter ego was Tom Warvas. The sequel, Pä våg, did not find a publisher. War and heroism were themes in Tikkanen's pacifist novels Unohdettu sotilas (1974, The Thirty Years' War) and Efter hjältedöden (1979). Most of his works Tikkanen wrote and published in Swedish, but Unohdettu sotilas was first written in Finnish. The Swedish version, 30-åriga krigen, came out three years later. Dödens Venedig (1973), about Venice, was an example of the author's highly developed sense of the macabre. The mythic city is portrayed as the symbol of an overrich and dying western culture. In the 1950s Tikkanen wrote several radio dramas, and then enlarged his oeuvre into television plays. He once said that he has two major themes, war and sex; his attitude toward war is negative but toward sex positive. Behind The Thirty Years' War was the real-life story of a Japanese soldier, who was unaware that World War II had ended and was left behind on Guam and the Philippines. Tikkanen transferred the scene and the protagonist, named Viktor Käppärä, to the Karelian wilderness. Viktor, a Kurt Vonnegut-esque character (his name refers of course to victory), refuses to accept the fact that the war is over. In the sequel, Efter hjältedöden, Viktor becomes a television star and is assassinated as he shakes hands with the Swedish prime minister, Olof Palme. Seven years after the publication of the novel Olof Palme was killed by an unknown gunman. His much-praised "address series" Tikkanen began
with Brändövägen 8.
Translated into English Mary Sandbach, already in her eighties, it was
published in London by Chatto & Windus in 1980. Tikkanen goes
through
his childhood, his father's
alcoholism, and the suicide of one brother. The next two volumes
focused
on his growing dependence on drink, his marriage, and career in
newspapers. All the titles refer to Tikkanen's addresses on different periods of his life: Brändövägen is in the elegant upper-middle-class area, the second, Bävervägen, is a bedroom suburb, Mariegatan is in the center of Helsinki, and Georgsgatan is where the theater was located in which his play was produced and where lies the gallery in which an exhibit of his graphics is to be held. The
third part dealt with the author's marriage to Märta Tikkanen, at that
time one of
Finland's most-read contemporary authors in Scandinavia and Germany.
Tikkanen's work sparked a small storm of debate in the Finland-Swedish
press about the depiction of women in his life. Thomas Henrikson noted in his review of Mariagatan 26 that Tikkanen's trilogy has been compared with August Strindberg's The Defence of a Fool (written 1887–1888), but critics have overlooked that both are autobiographical novels,
mixtures of truth and fiction: "On ilmeisesti hengenvaarallista satsata
vakavasti itseensä kirjallisuudessa. Sen sai kokea Strindbergkin, yksi
niitä kirjailijoita, jotka ovat seuranneet Tikkasta arvioinnista
toiseen. . . . Se joka alkaa etsiä Strindbergiä kaunokirjallisista
teksteistä, joutuu helposti harhaan. . . . Saattaa olla syytä pitää
tämäkin mielessään, kun on Henrik Tikkasesta kyse. Hänen kirjansa ovat
omaelämäkerrallisia romaaneja, nimenomaan romaaneja, eikä se, mitä hän
kuvaa, ole todellisuutta, se vain näyttää todellisuudelta." ('Kolmas kerta toden sanoo' by Thomas Henrikson, Helsingin Sanomat, No. 91, 03.04.1977, p. 24) Märtä Tikkanen gave in 1978 a bitter account of their life together in Århundradets
kärlekssaga (The Love Story of the Century). Tikkanen himself did
not much blame his wife for his shortcomings. His alcoholism Tikkanen
considered inherited. One of his favorite restaurants was Elite on the Eteläinen Hesperiankatu. Märta Tikkanen (neé Cavonius; b. 1935) combines in her work feminist views with personal revelations. Tikkanen's own life served as the backdrop for her pamphlet novels and poems. She emerged in the 1970s as one of the leading northern advocates of women's liberation. Nu imorron (1970) and its sequel Ingenmansland (1972) followed the life of Frederika, who refuses the injustices of a male-dominated society. Män kan inte våldtas (1975, Manrape) was widely translated and made into a film (1978) by Jörn Donner. In the story a woman, who is raped by a man whom she has accompanied to his apartment, hits back with a counterrape on her assailant. The Love Story of the Century, a collection of prose poems with a narrative thread, gave an account of her marriage with Henrik Tikkanen, his drunkenness, and complaints about her emotional coldness and aggressiveness. The book and a subsequent dramatization appealed to female audiences, who shared similar experiences. Sofias egen bok (1982) is a chronicle of the illness and treatment of her younger child, afflicted with minimal brain dysfunction. In Rödluvan (1986) Tikkanen analyzed her childhood with themes from mythology and fairy tales. Arnaía, kastad i havet (1992) portrayed the character of Penelope, a daughter of Icarius and the nymph Periboea, in a new way. Två: scener ur ett konstnärsäktenskap (2004) looked at Tikkanen's stormy marriage with her famous husband, sometimes characterized as a "Finnish Strindberg." Emma & Uno: visst var det kärlek (2010) was a family story about her grandparents. The play Ett sommarbarn (1957) is credited to Henrik Tikkanen, but Märta Tikkanen participated in its writing. "Luin sivuja sitä mukaa kuin ne kasvoivat esiin, me kääntelimme ja vääntelimme repliikkejä mutta kirjoittaja oli Henrik. . . . Se oli tarina hänestä ja minusta, mutta vain minä olin mukana, hän pani kaiken tarjolle mutta minä saisin itse vetää johtopäätökset." (Kaksi: Kohtauksia eräästä taiteilija-avioliitosta by Märta Tikkanen, Helsinki: Tammi, 2004) In addition to novels, memoirs, and travel books from his wide journeys in Europe, Henrik Tikkanen published illustrated books, aphorisms, and short stories, and wrote teleplays for Suomen Televisio and Yleisradio (YLE). He received several awards, among them Eino Leino Association Award (1975), and the State Literature Award (1976, 1983). Tikkanen's last work was the autobiographical Renault, mon amour, (1983), in which the seriously ill author depicted his relationship with his favorite car, Renault. Henrik Tikkanen died in Espoo, on May 19, 1984. For further reading: Ihmisen ääni by Henrik Tikkanen (1978); Århundradets kärlesksaga by Märta Tikkanen (1978); Henrik, edited by Märta Tikkanen, et al. (1985); 'Confessor Literature and the Tikkanens' by George C. Schoolfield, in A History of Finland's Literature, edited by George C. Schoolfield (1998); Kaksi: kohtauksia eräästä taiteilija-avioliitosta (original title: Två. Scener ur ett konstnärsäktenskap) by Märta Tikkanen (2004); Henrik Tikkanen, piirtäjä by Erik Kruskopf (2004); Tikkanens blick: en essä om Henrik Tikkanens författarskap, livsöde och personlighet by Johan Wrede (2012); 'Languages, Literary Traditions and Cultural Spheres' by Heidi Grönstrand, in Cosmopolitanism and Transnationalism: Visions, Ethics and Practices, edited by Leena Kaunonen (2014); 'Fred och fredens språk' by Irma Sorvali, in Pax, Acta Translatologica Helsingiensia, Volume 3 edited by Ritva Hartama-Heinonen and Pirjo Kukkonen (2015); Terävää jälkeä: Henrik Tikkasen ajankuvia 1967-1972 (original title: Tikkanens linje: tidsbilder 1967-1972) by Henrik Meinander; suomentaja: Kari Koski (2021); Kärlekens paradis: konflikten mellan kärlek och konst i Henrik och Märta Tikkanens litterära dialog by Matilda Torstensson Wulf (2021); Isolerat och övergivet nationsfragment, hänsynslöst ihjältiget? Studier i den fnlandssvenska litteraturens position och predikament i Sverige by Tomi Riitamaa (2021); 1900-luvun mies: Henrik Tikkanen - Vahvoja ja hentoja viivoja by Ville Hänninen (2026) Selected works:
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