Rudolf Koivu (1890 - 1946) was a Finnish graphic illustrator and painter, was one of Finland’s most famous illustrators. Koivu is best known for his illustrations of fairy tales and other children’s publications. which are enduringly and timelessly popular. The stamp sheet on the First Day Cover commemorating Rudolf Koivu was issued on 29.8.1970.
The stamps (from left to right and top to bottom) depict illustrations of
1. Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves (from the collection ”One Thousand and One Nights”.
2. Story of the Great Musician.
3. Story of the Giants, the Witches and the Daughter of the Sun.
4. The Golden Bird, Brothers Grimm fairy tales.
5. Lamb’s Brother, written by Rudolf Koivu.
6. The Snow Queen, written by Hans Christian Andersen.
This FDC was in fact issued in the year 1990.
ReplyDeleteRudolf Koivu (1890 - 1946)
Painter and illustrator Rudolf Koivu was born in 1890 in St. Petersburg and died 1946 in Helsinki. He studied in the Fine Arts Society of Finland drawing school in Helsinki from 1907 to 1910. Koivu was a pioneer of Finnish children's literature illustration. Among his best known works are the illustrations made for the stories by Zacharias Topelius, Anni Swan and H.C Andersen, as well as for the Stories from the Thousand and One Nights and Eero Salmelainen's compilation of Finnish fairy tales (Suomen kansan satuja ja tarinoita). Since the 1930s Koivu collaborated with the storybook writer Raul Roine. Koivu's illustrations are characterized by a richness of detail, high and narrow forms and androgynous characters. His illustrations display the trends of his age, such as symbolism and art nouveau, in a personalised way. In his later works Koivu also adopted a number of oriental topics. Rudolf Koivu was the first secretary of the Finnish Draughtsmen's Association (present-day Grafia).
http://www.grafia.fi/in_english/rudolf_koivu_prize