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Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Visual Art Good Job, Whatshertits (Helmi Juvonen)

Posted by Jen Graves on Tue, Oct 30, 2012 at 1:46 PM

^{This post is part of a series.}

The strangely titled Mark Went A-Wooing, 1955-56, linoleum block on paper.

Courtesy of the Frye Art Museum
The strangely titled Mark Went A-Wooing, 1955-56, linoleum block on paper.

Helmi Juvonen just wanted her love returned. It wasn't. She was in love with Mark Tobey, her fellow artist. Everyone knew he was gay. Nevertheless, she circulated an announcement of their (nonexistent) wedding (above). She would be hospitalized for psychiatric reasons several times throughout her life.

But in her desire to marry Tobey, it was like she wanted to marry art itself. (And sleep with it on a feather bed.)

She wrote to him, on a 1956 flower painting, "Mon Sweet Mark, I am busy painting pictures for our big exhibition so we can make lots of money and get hitched. Pablo Picasso can be our best man. Just remember—feather beds are best. Love toujours, Helmi."

Juvonen had her first museum exhibition at the Frye in 1976. Shortly before she died in 1985, another classic Northwest outsider/eccentric figure, Wesley Wehr, arranged for several of her drawings and prints to become part of the Frye's collection.

This fall, her works are seen in a tender little show in a tiny little room at the back of the museum, along with some of her letters, in her upper-case, underlined handwriting. Carolee Schneemann would love the fact that Juvonen often writes about her cats.

You can easily miss this little exhibition, but that would make Helmi sad, so don't. It's called Dispatches to You (R.S.V.P.).

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This makes me love Helmi even more. Picasso as a best man? May not be the best omen for your marriage, but still... How cool would that be?

Posted by ERIN! on October 30, 2012 at 3:42 PM

Saw this exhibit yesterday and it was charming and sad. In the piece presented here, Mark Went A-Wooing, it seems by the dismayed expression on Tobey's face that Helmi understood that he was not comfortable with her advances. Perhaps she thought that Love would win the day.

Posted by moman on January 20, 2013 at 9:33 AM