Vainio, Jyrki :: Finnish art - Poika Vesanto - Misc.

Vesanto, WWII cartoon illustration, 1941

Artist: Poika Vesanto (All)

1 Comment - 1,289 Views - 1 Like

Vesanto, WWII cartoon illustration, 1941 Comic Art

Additional Images:

The inscription on the frame

Next Item:
Vesanto, book illustration 1, 1946

Artwork Details

Title:	Vesanto, WWII cartoon illustration, 1941
Artist:	Poika Vesanto (All)
Media Type:	Pen and Ink
Art Type:	Illustration
For Sale Status:	NFS
Views:	1,289
Likes on CAF:	1 2
Comments:	1
Added to Site:	8/13/2017
Comic Art Archive:

Description

Here's a piece full of history. Poika Vesanto served as an official war artist in WWII, but didn't start in that position until 1942. Here's a drawing that is dated to August 1941. Vesanto may have submitted it as a work sample, or possibly it was displayed in a war artists exhibition in Helsinki in September 1941, which he's known to have taken part in.
Whatever the origin, pieces like this should in all likelihood be in the War Archives, where the war artists work is stored. (They do in fact have some sort of copy of this). But the noted author Olavi Paavolainen, who served as the war artists' chief, appears to have donated this piece to major Taavi Patoharju, the head of the war censorship office at HQ. (Paavolainen and Vesanto may not have gotten along: Paavolainen is recorded to have stated that "humorists are useless as war artists". Vesanto was their most prominent humor artist.) Paavolainen has inscribed the matt surrounding the drawing in September 1944, just nine days after the cessation of hostilities. Strangely, it is also signed by Aarne Nopsanen - another war artist, but not the author of this piece! He just appears to have been present at the meeting.
Patoharju died in the late 1950s and it's unknown where this piece has traveled since then. But now it astonishingly turned up when someone was cleaning an attic! It really is true: treasures can still lurk in unexpected places... Great drawing, amazing history.

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About the Owner

	Jyrki Vainio
Joined:	October 2005
Last Login:	September 2025
Ebay Id:	jyrki_vainio
Website:	http://www.jyrkivainio.com/
Country:	FINLAND
On CAF:	Jyrki's Want List Artworks Commented On Liked Art Site Activity on CAF

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CJ Design
Member Since 2018

Posted on 5/9/2023

Classic cartooning!

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