Juvonen, Helmi, 1903-1985

Helmi Juvonen was an artist of considerable talent during a time when women artists in the Northwest were not taken seriously and few made art their vocation. She received considerable attention toward the end of her life and can be loosely associated with the artists who have come to be called the Northwest School. Morris Graves, Mark Tobey, and Guy Anderson were her friends and contemporaries. Known to all as simply “Helmi,” she brought a light-hearted joy and humor to a group of artists known more for their somber mysticism. She focused on primitive art at a time when there was very little interest in it. She is described by those who knew her as a person of endless energy and generous nature. She was prolific in her art production and totally without pretense. She could be called eccentric, but also independent, colorful, and whimsical. Although quite gregarious, Helmi also was a loner. It is sometimes difficult to pin down the facts of her life. The following information was gleaned from the sources listed in the bibliography which follows, and from her own papers.

Helmi Dagmar Juvonen was born in Butte, Montana, on January 17, 1903. She was the second daughter of Finnish immigrant parents. Art was a common means of expression in the family. Her father made pencil drawings for his two daughters, and her older sister worked in water colors. Helmi moved to Seattle with her mother and sister in 1918 at age 15. She attended Queen Anne High School and learned dressmaking and millinery in home economics classes. It was already quite apparent at that time that Helmi’s vocation would be art. While still in high school she was selling hand drawn greeting cards and rag dolls through local department stores. She designed the high school yearbook in 1922, the year she graduated.

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