Art in Nature: and other stories

Description

An elderly caretaker at a large outdoor exhibition, called Art in Nature, finds that a couple have lingered on to bicker about the value of a picture; he has a surprising suggestion that will resolve both their row and his own ambivalence about the art market. A draughtsman's obsession with drawing locomotives provides a dark twist to a love story. A cartoonist takes over the work of a colleague who has suffered a nervous breakdown only to discover that his own sanity is in danger. In these witty, sharp, often disquieting stories, Tove Jansson reveals the fault-lines in our relationship with art, both as artists and as consumers. Obsession, ambition, and the discouragement of critics are all brought into focus in these wise and cautionary tales.

The writer and artist Tove Jansson (1914-2001) is best known as the creator of the Moomin stories, which have been published in thirty-five languages. However, from 1968, she turned her attention to writing for adults. Her bestseller, The Summer Book, is a modern Scandinavian classic. Art in Nature was published six years later. Translated from the Swedish by Thomas Teal, winner of the 'Rochester Best Translated Book Award 2011'.

That there can still be as-yet untranslated fiction by Jansson is simultaneously an aberration and a delight, like finding buried treasure. -- Ali Smith Tove Jansson was a genius -- Philip Pullman