Ilon Wikland

Ilon Wikland is the single artist who has illustrated most of Astrid Lindgren's books.

In addition to the current auction painting for the book cover "Sunnanäng", Ilon Wikland has also painted, drawn and illustrated the world-famous fairy tales about Bullerbyn, Lotta på Bråkmakargatan, Bröderna Lejonhjärta, Karlsson på taket, Madicken, Mio min Mio, Nils Karlsson-Pyssling, Ronja Rövardotter and Saltkråkan.

Sunnanäng by Astrid Lindgren was published in 1959. The book consists of four fairy tales: Sunnanäng, "Playing my lind, singing my nightingale", Tu tu tu! and Junker Nils of Eka.

The artist Ilon Wikland was born in 1930 and arrived from Estonia to Sweden as a 14-year-old, in 1944. Ilon Wikland attended Swedish art school and was able to create a new and unique style with her history of Estonian visual art.

In 1953, Ilon Wikland applied for work as an illustrator and visual artist at Rabén & Sjögren. She was met by Astrid, who had just finished writing Mio, my Mio and who immediately saw that Ilon could "draw fairy tales". There and then the collaboration with Astrid Lindgren began.

Ilon Wikland worked closely with Astrid Lindgren and as each water colour or painting was completed, she displayed them.

On two separate occasions, Astrid has asked Ilon to redraw, because she herself had a different picture of what the people looked like. (Karlsson looked like a chamberlain and Ronja Rövardotter looked like a Sami girl, Astrid thought.)

But the watercolor painting for "Sunnanäng" made Astrid delighted and satisfied, already at first sight.

Astrid Lindgren's books have been translated into over 100 languages ​​and they have been published all over the world.