Professor Oiva Toikka (1931 - 2019) was
one of the greatest names in Finnish
glass. His imaginative, rich, bold glass
art deviated from the streamlined aes-
thetic of Nordic design. Oiva Toikka was
renowned worldwide for his unique and
massive contribution to Finnish art glass
over the past half century (the Birds
Collection for Iittala is his best-known
work. The pieces are renewed annually,
and are highly sought after as gifts and
collector’s pieces). He enjoyed an inter-
national career and received numerous
awards, among them the Lunning Prize,
Pro Finlandia Medal, World Glass Now
85 Award, Kaj Franck Design Prize and
the Prince Eugen Medal.
In addition to glass and ceramics, Toi-
kka’s career covered many other areas,
including stage costumes, drawings,
and textiles.
In his long career Toikka had also a
fruitful collaboration with Magis, resulting
in three products made of rotational–
moulded polyethylene (the rocking bird
Dodo, the colourful coat stand Paradise
Tree, and the shelving system Down-
town) and a couple of serigraphies,
called Moments of Ingenuity.
Oiva Toikka was an artist of immense
creative talent, vision and versatility, the
creator of elaborate compositions and
installations, all drawn by an impulsive
imagination, ignoring boundaries and
paying scant regard to aesthetic coher-
ence.
Profile:
Oiva
Toikka
