Ami Hauhio -kiertonäyttely aukeaa torstaina 1.2.2018 Helsingissä, Rikhardinkadun kirjaston 3. kerroksessa ja on esillä helmikuun loppuun, eli 27.2.2018 saakka.
Rikhardinkadun kirjasto (Rikhardinkatu 3, Helsinki) on auki ma–to 8–20, pe 8–18, la 10–16 ja su 12–18.
Kirjaston info näyttelystä.
Joululehtiä ilmestyi menneinä aikoina runsaasti, ja toki Ami Hauhiokin kuvitti niitä. Tässä Suomen kesälapsiyhdistyksen julkaiseman Jouluvalon kansi vuodelta 1948. Melko nopeasti maalatun näköinen kansi on painettu kolmiväripainatuksella, eli täysin mustaa väriä siinä ei ole lainkaan.
Lehti on ilmeisesti Kotivalo-lehden joulunumero. Kotivaloa julkaisivat vuosina 1943–1954 Suomen orpokotiyhdistys ja Suomen kesälapsiyhdistys.
–
Finnish Christmas-magazine Christmas Light from 1948 with cover art by Ami Hauhio. The magazine was published by the Finnish Orphan House Association and the Finnish Summer Child Association. The latter was probably organising summer residencies, summer camps for children and similar activities.
Suomalaisen musiikin päivänä 8.12.2017 on oikea hetki postata jokin aika sitten huuto.netistä bongaamani Ami Hauhion kansikuva. Nuottivihko kuplettimestari J. Alfred Tannerin lauluista on Kanervan kustannusliikkeen julkaisema. Painovuotta ei ole merkitty, signeerauksen vuosiluku on 1947.
Kansikuva viittaa kirjasessa mukana olevaan Kulkurin valssiin, jossa lauletaan mm. että ”Vaikk’ linnojen kruunut ne valoaan luo ja kristallit kimaltelee, ei liikuta kulkuria laisinkaan tuo…” Kappaleen sävel on ruotsalaista alkuperää 1800-luvulta, ja suomenkieliset sanat on tehnyt J. Alfred Tanner. Laulun pohjalta oli vuonna 1941 tehty erittäin suosittu kotimainen elokuva jossa pääosaa esitti Tauno Palo.
–
December 8th is the Finnish Music Day, and the birthday of Jean Sibelius. It is a good reason to post a picture of Ami Hauhio’s cover for sheet music collection of J. Alfred Tanner’s songs. Printing year is not mentioned, but the signature in the cover is from 1947. Tanner (1884-1927) was a popular comic song artist, and some of his lyrics are still known in Finland. The cover art is from song Kulkurin valssi (Vagabond’s Waltz). The song inspired also a very popular Finnish film of the same name in 1941, starring the greatest film star in Finland, Tauno Palo.
Sarjakuvaportaali Kvaak on Suomi 100 -juhlavuoden kunniaksi laatinut kunnianhimoisen listan, johon on poimittu yksi kotimainen sarjakuva jokaiselta itsenäisyyden ajan vuodelta. Tässä ensimmäisessä osassa on listattu vuodet 1917–1968. Äkkiseltään ajateltuna varsinkin alkuvuodet tuntuivat hankalilta, sarjakuvia ilmestyi silloin vielä niin vähän. Hyvin on Kvaakin työryhmä kuitenkin haasteesta selvinnyt, tietysti mukana onkin useita kotimaisen sarjakuvan historiaan hyvin paneutuneita asiantuntijoita. Lisäksi tiimi on laatinut artikkeleita kyseisistä sarjakuvista ja ansiokkaasti taustoittanut valintojaan..
Vuoden 1940 sarjakuvaksi on valittu Ami Hauhion piirtämä ja Reino Helismaan ja Olavi Kanervan kirjoittama kiistämätön klassikko Maan mies Marsissa. Timo Ronkaisen artikkeli kertoo siitä kaiken oleellisen.
Vuoden 1944 sarjakuva on Koltan perintö, joka taas on kokonaan Ami Hauhion omaa tuotantoa. Timo Ronkainen on laatinut myös sitä käsittelevän artikkelin.
—
Finland became independent in December 6th 1917, and the nation has been celebrating its first century in 2017. Finnish comics portal Kvaak has collected their own ambitious project, 100 comics from 100 years. Their team has picked Finnish comics from every year of independency. The first part of the list covers the years 1917–1968. The project also includes articles about the comics, offering backgroud information about the comics and choices.
From year 1940 they have picked Ami Hauhio’s scifi-classic Earthman on Mars (Maan mies Marsissa), written by Reino Helismaa and Olavi Kanerva.
1944 choice is Hauhio’s own Lapland-adventure The Skolt’s Legacy (Koltan perintö), which run in magazine Valojuova in 1944-1946.
Seura-lehden nro 37/2017 sanaristikossa oli tämmöinen vihje. Ami Hauhio ylittää siis tunnettavuuskynnyksen silläkin tavalla, että hänen nimensä tunteminen kuuluu sanaristikkoharrastajien yleissivistykseen. Ami on sikälikin erikoinen, ja itse asiassa moderni etunimi, että se sopii molemmille sukupuolille. Sekä Hauhiolle että Aspelundille se tosin on taiteilijanimi, eikä virallinen etunimi.
Hauhion pojantyttären mukaan 1950–1960 -luvuilla ristikoissa saattoi olla vihjeenä Hauhio – Lovén. 1970-luvulla Apinamies-kappaleen suosion myötä Aspelund hiljalleen syrjäytti Ami Lovénin ristikkovihjeissä.
Ristikon laati Erkki Vuokila ja kuvitti Reima Mäkinen.
Finnish family-magazine Seura had this clue in their crossword-puzzle in 2017. Aspelund and Hauhio shared their first name, and the answer is AMIT, which is plural of the word AMI in Finnish. It’s nice to notice that Ami Hauhio is famous enough that his name can be used this way. Also noticeable is that Ami Aspelund is a Finnish female singer. Ami is a rare and also modern example of a Finnish name that suits both sexes.
The exhibition was produced by Media Museum Rupriikki. Curator of the exhibition: Timo Kokkila. Graphic Design: Lasse Honkanen. Contact: tkokkila@yahoo.com
Aimo Hauhio was a Finnish comics artist and illustrator, who signed his work with pseudonym Ami. He was born in Vyborg in 1912, his parents were Robert and Lyyli Hauhio and he had two younger brothers.
Aimo’s father drowned tragically during a boat trip in Vyborg Bay in 1923. Aimo studied in Vyborg Art Society Drawing School in 1926–1932. After graduating he worked in a printing house. His illustrations and comics also started to appear here and there.
In 1938 Aimo married Kerttu Suomalainen and they had a son in 1939. The family moved from Vyborg to Munkkiniemi in Helsinki, just before the Second World War started. During the war Vyborg was evacuated and the town was more or less destroyed. Vyborg became part of the Soviet Union in 1944.
At wartime Aimo worked drawing maps in the Finnish National Board of Navigation. His wife and son moved to safer Sweden, where Kerttu gave birth to a daughter. In Helsinki Aimo was busy drawing adventure comics and book covers after work.
After the war Kerttu and children returned to Helsinki. Aimo worked as a layout artist for magazines and as an illustrator in advertising agencies. At home he often worked until late night with his own work. He made comics, illustrations and book covers, but also paintings and wood carvings. His hobbies included fishing and hunting, but also films and art organization work. Two more children were born to the family.
Aimo got stomach cancer in early 1950’s. After a successful surgery he kept on working as a freelance artist. In 1955 he got sick again and died in December, only 43 years old. Short but productive career ended much too early.
Weekly family magazine Seura organised a comics contest in 1936. Hauhio won the second prize with ”Border Control Sergeant Kuula” (Rajavartiokersantti Kuula). The winner was famous Finnish illustrator Martta Wendelin, whose historical comic ”The Mystery of the Golden Chalice” (Kultaisen pikarin salaisuus) was soon published. Hauhio’s Sergeant Kuula was never seen, but his full color series ”Pilot Sam Hurja’s adventures on land, sea and air” appeared on Seura’s pages in 1938–1939.
On wartime and after that early Finnish syndicate Tekijätoimisto (Maker-office) distributed Finnish comics. Hauhio’s strips like ”Ismo Lento, Son of the Borderland” and ”Border Patrol Topi Valpas” were published in several newspapers.
Popular Finnish radio adventure serial ”Pekka Lipponen and Kalle-Kustaa Korkki” was adapted for a comic strip by Hauhio in 1950. The writer Outsider (Aarne Haapakoski) was well known and productive writer. The problem with the strip was that weekly half-page comic followed the same story as the daily radio show. The impossible pace lost most of the charm of the original.
Hauhio mentioned in a rare interview, that he considered comics as a media of the future. But after the Second World War American comics really started to take over Finnish papers and local artists were mostly put aside.
Earthman on Mars -album from 1947.
The most famous of Ami Hauhio’s comics was ”Earthman on Mars” (Maan mies Marsissa) in Finnish pulp magazine Isku in 1940–1941. The story was written by popular writer and song lyricist Reino Helismaa and Olavi Kanerva. Hauhio’s art is more painstakingly done than usually. It was published also as an incomplete comic book in 1947 and as a restored version in 2011. Earthman on Mars was influenced by Flash Gordon, and Hauhio later regretted that in an interview. He was being too hard for himself, the artwork is still impressive.
Magazine Valojuova published Hauhio’s fantasy oriented Lapland adventure ”Skolt’s Legacy” (Koltan perintö) in 1944–1946. The sequel in Pellervo-magazine 1947–1950 was pure science fiction with a story about a landtorpedo that can travel through Earth and under water.
Pulp magazine World of Adventure (Seikkailujen maailma) published Hauhio’s scifi comic ”Patent number 33” in 1940–1942. The Flying Saucer (Lentävä lautanen) appeared with 3-color printing in 1953, and was written by Olavi Kanerva.
Hauhio’s probably best known scifi book covers are Aarne ”Outsider” Haapakoski’s Atorox novels. The main character, robot Atorox has also given its name to annual Finnish award for the best science fiction short story, given out by Turku Science Fiction Society. Some Finnish translations of Edgar Rice Burrough’s books had covers by Hauhio. Many books aimed for teens also had scifi or fantasy elements.
Atorox on Mercury, 1948 / Treasure Hunters, 1945 / Danger from Mars, 1949 / Lost on Venus (Finnish translation of the name is ”The Princess of Venus”), 1951
Maybe the most remembered works by Ami Hauhio were Finnish book covers aimed for teens in 1940’s and 1950’s. Adventure books for boys were popular at the time and there were a lot of them from many publishers. Some of the books are better remembered because of their covers than the actual stories, which were often poorly written and formulaic. Still, many classics of the genre are also included.
The Battle of Rome (Ein Kampf um Rom), 1951 / The Prisoners of the King of Rapola, 1955
Very popular series Nuorten toivekirjasto (Wish-library for Youths) by big Finnish publisher WSOY had about 20 covers by Hauhio in 1953–1955.
The Odyssey of the Black Schooner, 1947 / The Adventure under the the Sea, 1948
The Blue Series for Boys (Poikien sininen sarja) by publisher Kansankirja had Hauhio covers in all 21 books, except one. Also children’s magazine Kimmo had many covers by him in 1945–1950.
Ami Hauhio made also humour and lighter stories. In 1939 magazine Seura published his full page comics about Family Seuranheimo. The father of the family is a wanna-be poet who works in a liver sausage company. After the war Hauhio returned to humour with strip ”Busy Maija” (Touhukas Maija) in childrens’ magazine Kimmo.
Family magazines like Koti (Home) and Yhteisvoimin (Together) printed many strips for children. Magazine Lasten maailma (World of Children) published several comics adaptations of classic novels like The Last of the Mohicans, Mowgli and Treasure Island, but also some Hauhio’s own stories like ”Adventures in Coral Island” or ”The Secret of Huhmarsaari”.
Various one shot comics appeared here and there. For example magazine Countryside Christmas (Maaseudun Joulu) 1948 had Hauhio’s two page comic chronicling Finland’s success in Olympic Games.
Hauhio seems to have enjoyed making covers for adventure and thriller stories. They were usually made fast and probably the artist was not paid very much. Hauhio’s art is a personal combination of fast paced American style and more rugged Finnish tradition.
In many cases the cheap paper and poor quality of the printing adds the pulp feeling of the books. Small publishers often didn’t care too much of the details, either. In Kamppailu keksinnöstä (The Struggle for the Invention) cover, both the first and last name of the author are misspelled. Sidney Horley is actually British thriller novelist Sydney Horler.
Murder by Prescription, 1949 / The Struggle for the Invention, 1942
Hauhio knew well Finland’s best known pulp writers of the time, Aarne ”Outsider” Haapakoski and Reino Helismaa. Specially Outsider was hugely productive and Hauhio made covers for about 30 of his books. Many of the stories were first published in various Finnish pulp magazines with Haapakoski’s other exotic pseudonyms like Victor Mario, Henrik Horna or Rigor Morton.
The Blue Paper Ball, 1943 / Pulp-magazine The Black Moon, 1945
Hauhio worked in Vyborg printing house in 1930’s and after the war in advertising agencies like Erva-Latvala and Mainosyhtymä in Helsinki. Advertisements are not usually signed and the style is generic, so the artists are hard to identify. Luckily some of Hauhio’s works have survived in a portfolio album, owned by his son.
Hauhio took part is some logo contests and made art for collectible stamps and cards for banks. Hauhio’s best known logo designs were radio-logo for Finnish Broadcasting Corporation Yle and the S-logo for the bank Säästöpankki.
Ami-Cola label is a funny example of his work, maybe the assignment was given to Hauhio just based on artist’s name. A few postcard designs came out, mostly during the wartime, and various illustration work appeared constantly in books and magazines.
After the war Ami Hauhio painted book covers for many publishers. The books varied from pulp to romance and some classic foreign volumes. Many publishers have disappeared a long time ago, and so has the original art. Only a few Hauhio’s cover paintings have survived. From hundreds of pages of comics, only one original page exists.
The Day Looks Back, 1947 / Bel-Ami, 1955
The cover artists were rarely mentioned in the books of 1940’s and 1950’s. Hauhio usually marked his work with stylised signature Ami, but not always. His covers reach over 300 in a little more than 10 years time.
In his last years Hauhio’s style started to change. He found new realism for the human figures, that often used to be a little stiff before. Maybe the times and styles were changing, the artist was more experienced, or did he simply have more time?
The Days of the Decision, 1954 / Am I Good Enough for You? 1950
Piirtänyt: Ami Hauhio -kiertonäyttely on esillä Worldconissa, Helsingin Messukeskuksessa 9.–13.8.2017. Worldcon on kansainvälinen science fiction- ja fantasiatapahtuma, joka järjestetään nyt ensimmäistä kertaa Suomessa. Järjestyksessä tämä on jo 75. Worldcon. Viiden päivän aikana Messuhallissa on valtavasti ohjelmaa, ja myös monia scifiä ja fantasiaa tavalla tai toisella sivuavia näyttelyitä.
Ami Hauhio oli suomalaisen scifisarjakuvan pioneereja, ja siihen lajityypiin lukeutuvat myös hänen ehkä tunnetuimmat sarjakuvansa Maan mies Marsissa, sekä Koltan perintö. Tieteisaiheita esiintyi myös Hauhion kansikuvittamissa kirjoissa.
Drawn by: Ami Hauhio -exhibition goes to Worldcon in Helsinki 9.–13. August 2017. Worldcon is 75:th international science fiction and fantasy convention and is arranged for the first time in Finland.
Ami Hauhio (1912–1955) was one of the pioneers of Finnish scifi and fantasy comics. His best known works include comics like Earthman in Mars (Maan mies Marsissa) and The Skolt’s Legacy (Koltan perintö), both scifi stories. Hauhio also made a lot of book covers, including many with scifi or fantasy themes.
Aimo ”Ami” Hauhion elämää ja uraa esittelevä näyttely jatkaa seuraavaksi Munkkiniemen kirjastoon Helsinkiin. Näyttely aukeaa keskiviikkona 3.5.2017 klo 18, jolloin sen kokoaja, sarjakuvantekijä Timo Kokkila on paikalla. Näyttely on esillä kirjaston aukioloaikoina toukokuun loppuun saakka.
The exhibition about Ami Hauhio visited Munkkiniemi Library in Helsinki in 3–31 May 2017. Hauhio moved from Vyborg to Munkkiniemi with his family just before the war started in 1939, and lived and worked there for the rest of his career. The Munkkiniemi Library is situated just a few hundred meters from the house family Hauhio lived, so the place was just perfect.
Pienen tauon jälkeen Ami Hauhio -näyttely jatkaa kiertoaan. Se aukeaa Jyväskylän yliopiston kirjastossa perjantaina 10.2.2017 klo 16–16.30. Näyttelyn kokoaja Timo Kokkila on paikalla. Näyttelyn viipyy Jyväskylässä näillä näkymin 25.3.2017 saakka.
Heti sen jälkeen klo 17–17.45 Kokkila kertoo Hauhion urasta vähän matkan päässä Jyväskylän kaupunginkirjastolla.
Näyttely ja luento kuuluvat vuotuiseen Vanhan kirjan talvi -tapahtumaan.
Huomio: Näyttely tekee vielä Jyväskylän matkansa lopuksi vierailun Jyväskylän kirjamessuilla la 25.3. ja su 26.3.2017 Jyväskylän yliopiston kirjaston osastolla.
Kirpputorikäynnillä löytyi vaihteeksi itselleni ennestään tuntematon Ami Hauhion kansikuva. Teos on Väinö Pajusen ja Lauri Elimäen kirjoittama Opin laskemaan – Maaseudun kansakoulujen laskennon ja mittausopin oppikirja, VII luokka. Kirja on alunperin vuodelta 1954, tämä on neljäs painos vuodelta 1961, kustantaja WSOY.
Kansimaalaus on melko hillitty ja realistinen, kuten siihen aikaan oppikirjoissa varmasti pitikin olla. Kuvassa maatilan lapset osallistuvat luonnollisesti perunannostoon, mutta laskutaitoisina ovat selvästi päässeet vähän kevyempiin hommiin. Kuten kirjan alaotsikosta käy ilmi, kirja oli tarkoitettu maaseudun lapsille. Suuri osa laskutehtävistä liittyykin kotieläinten tuottoon, navetan tilavuuteen tai vaikkapa peltoalan laskemiseen. Vaikea kuvitella että nykyaikana oppikirjoja laadittaisiin erikseen maaseudun koululaisille.
Sisäsivujen mustavalkoiset kuvitukset on tehnyt toinen sarjakuvistakin tunnettu taiteilija, Olavi Vikainen (1915-2005). Vikaisen nimi mainitaan nimiösivun kääntöpuolella kirjan kuvittajana, mutta kansikuvan tekijää ei lainkaan. Esipuheen lopussa tekijät mainitsevat lisäksi, että ”Kirjan kuvittajalle, Olavi Vikaiselle pyydämme lausua parhaat kiitoksemme.” Kansikuvan tekijä jää kuitenkin jostain oudosta syystä kokonaan mainitsematta, sama pätee moniin muihinkin tuon ajan kirjoihin.
Bonuksena kirjan alkusivulle oli liimattu lisää käyttökuvitusta, eli Valion hienoimman sulatejuuston kolmioetiketti. Kerta-annos sulatejuusto on tuttua omiltakin kouluajoiltani. Kuvan tekijästä ei ole tietoa. Jotkut tuon ajan kuva-aiheet (Kuten Koskenlaskija-sulatejuuston vastaava) ovat ainakin muokattuina yhä käytössä, mutta en muista tähän törmänneeni.
