{{Short description|Swedish artist}} {{BLP sources|date= October 2021}} {{Infobox person | name = Ilon Wikland | image = Ilon Wikland 2.JPG | caption = Ilon Wikland in 2007. | other_names = Maire-Ilon Wikland | birth_name = Maire-Ilon Pääbo | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1930|02|05}} | birth_place = Haapsalu, Lääne County, Estonia | occupation = Artist, illustrator }}
'''Maire-Ilon Wikland''' (née '''Pääbo'''; born 5 February 1930) is an Estonian-born Swedish artist and illustrator.<ref name=ne.se>{{cite encyclopedia | title=Ilon Wikland | encyclopedia=Nationalencyklopedin | language=Swedish | url=http://www.ne.se/ilon-wikland | accessdate=13 May 2010}}</ref>
Wikland was born in Tartu, Estonia and raised in Haapsalu, Lääne County on Estonia's Baltic coast. In 1944 she escaped with the family of a classmate from the second Soviet occupation of Estonia, to Sweden, where she arrived as a refugee.
In 1953 Wikland applied for a job as illustrator at Rabén & Sjögren. She was met by Astrid Lindgren, who had just finished writing the book ''Mio, my Son'' and who could see immediately that Wikland was able to "draw fairytales". Wikland did a test-drawing for the book and after that her collaboration with Lindgren continued. Wikland has said that Lindgren's writing continually makes her see inner pictures. She also derives inspiration for her pictures from real life. In the same way that Lindgren wrote for "the child within her", Wikland often also draws for the child within her.{{Citation needed|date=May 2022}}
Wikland is the artist who has illustrated the greatest number of Lindgren's books: * ''The Six Bullerby Children'' (a.k.a. ''The Children of Noisy Village'') * ''The Children on Troublemaker Street'' * ''The Brothers Lionheart'' * ''Karlsson-on-the-Roof'' * ''Mardie'' * ''Mio, My Son'' * ''Simon Small Moves In'' * ''Ronia the Robber's Daughter'' * ''Seacrow Island'' * ''The Ghost of Skinny Jack'' * ''The Red Bird''. She has also provided the illustrations for many picture books by Lindgren and many other writers, including ''The Dragon with Red Eyes'', ''I Want a Brother or Sister'', ''That’s My Baby'', ''Brenda Helps Grandmother'', ''Simon Small Moves in'', and ''The Borrowers''.
In 2004 Wikland decided to gift her original illustrations to Estonia. The artwork was originally exhibited in Wikland's gallery in Haapsalu, Estonia. In 2009 "Ilon's Wonderland", a gallery and theme centre for children and families based on her works and illustrations, was opened in Haapsalu.
== Awards == Wikland was awarded the Illis quorum by the government of Sweden in 2002 for her "outstanding ability to bring environments and characters to life from her own and Astrid Lindgren's writings".<ref>{{Cite web |date=January 2006 |title=Regeringens belöningsmedaljer och regeringens utmärkelse: Professors namn |url=https://www.regeringen.se/contentassets/61bab671f59a46af81cb11ee99e0d0eb/regeringens-beloningsmedaljer-och-regeringens-utmarkelse-professors-namn |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211102152834/https://www.regeringen.se/contentassets/61bab671f59a46af81cb11ee99e0d0eb/regeringens-beloningsmedaljer-och-regeringens-utmarkelse-professors-namn |archive-date=2021-11-02 |access-date=2022-05-18 |website=Regeringskansliet |language=sv}}</ref>
== References == {{Reflist}}
== External links == * [https://web.archive.org/web/20090510084227/http://www.astridlindgren.se/mer-fakta/illustratorer/ilon-wikland Ilon Wikland] at AstridLindgren.se * [http://www.salm.ee/en/museums/ilons-wonderland/ Iloni Imedemaa], or Ilons Wonderland, museum in Haapsalu, Estonia * [https://web.archive.org/web/20100303125320/http://www.hakalaxproductions.com/index.php?sivu=filmography ''I Draw, Therefore I Am'' (2009)] – documentary film by Kim Finn and John Hakalax * {{YouTube|NmCV2usUSQQ|I Draw, Therefore I Am}} * [http://vimeo.com/7867760 Soome produtsent ja lavastaja John Hakalax räägib Ilon Wiklandi eluloofilmi saamisloost] * {{LCAuth|n79148813|Ilon Wikland|45|ue}}
{{Authority control (arts)|country=SV}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wikland, Ilon}} Category:1930 births Category:Living people Category:20th-century Swedish women artists Category:20th-century Estonian women artists Category:20th-century Estonian artists Category:21st-century Swedish women artists Category:21st-century Estonian women artists Category:21st-century Estonian artists Category:Artists from Tartu Category:Estonian women children's book illustrators Category:People from Haapsalu Category:Estonian emigrants to Sweden Category:Estonian World War II refugees Category:Swedish fantasy illustrators Category:Swedish fantasy artists Category:Estonian children's book illustrators Category:Swedish children's book illustrators Category:Swedish women children's book illustrators Category:Recipients of the Order of the White Star, 3rd Class Category:Recipients of the Illis quorum Category:21st-century Estonian illustrators Category:21st-century Swedish illustrators