(OUTSIDER ART). (CARICATURES). "HELMU." [Sketchbook containing caricatures of political figures and others.]

With 300 Original Illustrations

(OUTSIDER ART). (CARICATURES). "HELMU." [Sketchbook containing caricatures of political figures and others.] (Finland: 1959-61) [50] leaves. (296 x 219 mm.)  Original spiral-bound notebook with shiny blue and green covers. With 300 sketches made on small pieces of white and tan paper (predominantly pencil, but several in pen and a few colored in pastel) tipped onto sketchbook pages (two sketches loose).  Minor wear to exterior; a little graphite transfer onto facing pages. Excellent condition throughout.

A wonderfully expressive and idiosyncratic album by a Finnish artist, crafted with a distinct edginess.

This amazing collection of small-format sketches is almost entirely composed of caricatures both real and imagined, including figures such as Stalin, Napoleon, Hermann Göring, Emperor Hirohito, Eisenhower, George Marshall, and Joachim von Ribbentrop. Although there are a few women included in this work, the artist seems to have been primarily interested in portraying figures traditionally associated with masculinity, such as cowboys, soldiers, pirates, police, and even cavemen. Facial features are often highly exaggerated (for example, wild hair or protruding chins and noses), and although the compositions themselves are rather simple, there is a palpable energy and refreshing lack of preciousness to each piece.

Despite the impressionistic nature of these sketches, which show rapid pencil movements and can have an unfinished quality, the artist presents his work in a neat and precise manner: each piece is cut to size, grouped by theme, and carefully pasted into the album for display. Most sketches are signed "Helmu," but the work contains no further information about our mysterious artist. We can deduce from the language in some of the images that Helmu was Finnish, but we have been unable to track down any further details about their life and work. For now, this album remains a wonderfully eccentric piece of outsider art, and an utter joy to flip through. (1068)