The Conjunction of Icelandic Painters and Icelandic History

Iceland is a place that I have been intrigued with as of recently. The small island country, and the most isolated European country, which gained its independence from Denmark in 1944 has a history that is not really told in the American schooling system. Or even at a collegiate level. I have never seen any literature written about Iceland. Nor have I learned or heard anything about Iceland other than the fact that it is actually very much green and not made of ice. I decided to learn more about Iceland simply because of its obscurity, and the rich homogenous culture and society that is the nation of Iceland. Iceland has less than 400,000 people living on the island. It has a land mass almost as big as Colorado, and the population density is almost 4 people per square kilometer. Meaning that the island has the lowest population density out of any European nation. To me, this is quite fascinating. A nation that has been one of the pinnacles to trade throughout the Atlantic ocean for the Scandinavian people. The nation of Iceland is unique because there are no indigenous people of Iceland. The first people who arrived in Iceland were Norwegian aristocrats. The aristocrats later brought other people from other nations as a means of labor to the country. The name of the country actually originates from one of the first settlers, Hrafna-Flóki who when he arrived in Iceland, left three people behind to start a settlement. On the way home, he ran into tons of ice in the fjords between Iceland and Europe, thus leaving him to name the island, Iceland. This was also for strategic reasons as well, so that no one else wanted to go and habituate the island. Leaving Flóki with a monopoly on the island. This did not stop people from wanting to go to Iceland however because word got out from some of Flóki’s crewmembers that, “butter dripped off of the blades of grass.” Which led to more people wanting to see the fantastical island.

With this ever growing interest in the island, the king of Norway at the time Harald Finehair decided that he wanted to get this land and make it his. So he sent a real settlement to settle in Iceland, where he then conquered the land, and imposed strong taxes onto the settlers. This lasted from 872-930. After this time period, the commonwealth of Iceland was formed. Iceland now had 36 principalities, each with its own governmental body, and chieftain ruling the land.

After time went on, Iceland was still part of the Norwegian control, but in 1397, Norway, Sweden, and Denmark all joined the Kalmar Union which put a de facto ruling over Iceland by the Danish throne in 1523 when the union dissolved. The island later actually became part of Denmark in 1814 when the treaty of Kiel was signed which was because of conflicts during the Nepoleanic wars in which Norway ceded to Denmark and gave them the Faroe Islands, Iceland, and Greenland. Later on in 1874 a constitution was created, and in 1918 sovereignty was achieved, and then in 1944 independence was given after 99% of Icelanders wanted independence from Denmark. And over 98% of Icelandic people turned out for this referendum. All of this was through peaceful protests as well. What was interesting to me though was that Iceland was taken over by Hitler in 1940, which gave rise to the referendum because Hitler abolished the Danish Kingdom and the power that it held.

Now, I will get to my point and show some Icelandic paintings and why I find them to be some of the most nationalistic paintings I have seen other than the Belgian and Dutch Lowland paintings, which put great pride into their land and country. A lot of Icelandic painters, from what I have seen at least, put great emphasis into the landscapes of the country. The great fjords, and the vast open areas with beautiful mountains and volcanoes. Iceland still has volcanic activity today too. Iceland is also on two tectonic plates which slowly separates the country by around two centimeters per year which I find pretty interesting. Anyways here are some of the painters that I find interesting.

Some of my favorite painters:

Þórarinn Benedikt. Þorláksson (February 14th, 1867 - July 10, 1924)

Þórarinn Benedikt. Þorláksson is a painter from Iceland who was the 13th child of 14 from a father who worked as a clergyman. At a young age, Þórarinn’s father died. Þórarinn was only 5 years old at the time. Þórarinn grew up learning how to welt books together. Later in life, Þórarinn was fortunate enough to receive a grant from the Icelandic Parliament to study painting in Copenhagen. In 1900 he painted his first paintings. Mainly of the landscapes of Iceland. But in 1902 he graduated and came back to Iceland for good. Þórarinn was a trailblazer in Icelandic art because he was the first ever Icelander to hold an exhibition of Icelandic art in Iceland. Making him a key figure in Icelandic paintings history. What Þórarinn liked to paint the most was Icelandic landscapes, and when he was not doing art he was either teaching or selling goods at his store where he sold drawing and painting supplies with his wife Sigríður. He later died in 1924 in his house in Laugardalur, and left behind a legacy and inspired many other Icelandic painters behind him. A really cool fact to me was that he was chosen out of five people to design the Icelandic flag by Prime Minister Hannes Hafstein at the time. Although he did not bring the flag to the Prime Minister he still helped. A man by the name of Matthias Thordarson was the one who brought the final design to the Prime Minister

Þórarinn’s paintings are very interesting to me because almost every painting he paints

Is a painting of the vast, open, grandiose, landscape of which Iceland is. Þórarinn primarily used oil for his paintings which do sometimes feel as if he is downplaying the beauty of Iceland, but I think that oil brings out the fertility of the land, and the atmosphere that Iceland has. I will now show some of his paintings. I also like his paintings a lot because they are symbolic, and I think even inspired a fair amount of Icelanders to think about independence from Denmark similar to the way Dutch painters painted landscapes of the lowlands to show how proud they were of their land.

Hvítá in Borgarfjörður, 1903

Plain of Parliament, 1900

(This painting holds deep meaning to me because this was painted where the first ever Icelandic parliament, the Althing, was held in 930 CE in a small town outside of Reykjavik where it was there until around 1800 where it was discontinued. The Althing was later reinstated but was moved to the capital of Reykjavik)

Repose, 1910

Stórisjór and Vatnajökull, 1921

The Artist's Home, 1923

From Laugardalur, 1923

(This was one of the last paintings Þórarinn did)

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Ásgrímur Jónsson (March 4, 1876 – April 5, 1958)

Jónsson was mainly known for his paintings that he did in his distinct style of post imperialism and impressionism. Jónsson was one of the first painters to also be able to live off of his paintings on their own. He studied at the Royal Academy of Copenhagen in Denmark from 1900 to around 1903 at the same time Þórarinn Benedikt. Þorláksson did. His works also paint day to day life in Iceland as shown in the painting Children at Play. Right before Jónsson died he donated his whole house to the government of Iceland to put his home on display. To this day his home in Reykjavik is still visitable with all of the same furniture and over 192 oil paintings and 277 watercolor paintings. I really want to see his house so badly if I ever go to Iceland. What I also find really cool is that in 1933 he was knighted two times. Once in Iceland as a Grand Knight, and also as the Knight of Dannebrog. He was also an honorary professor at the University of Iceland, and of the Royal Swedish Academy of the Arts.

I am showing some of my favorite paintings of his down below. Found on WikiArt.org.

Moonlight, Reykjavík 1909

The Farm Múlakot in Fljótshlíð, South Iceland 1913

Mt. Esja, seen from the building Vinaminni, 1910

Children at Play 1920

Winter Sun in Hafnarfjörður 1930

Hafnarfjörður Town 1930

View of Elliðaárvogur, Reykjavík 1930

Autumn Sunlight, Öskjuhlíð 1920

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Júlíana Sveinsdóttir (31 July 1889 – 17 April 1966)

Júlíana Sveinsdóttir is an Icelandic, Danish, textile artist and painter. She was one of the first female painters of Iceland and she actually was taught by Þórarinn Benedikt. Þorláksson how to paint. Although she was not entirely based in Iceland, she still visited Iceland very often, and a lot of her paintings come from her visits in Iceland during the summertime. Abundantly her paintings also mimic Þórarinn as well with scenes from the vastness of Iceland. Juliana also dabbled in textile art as well. She was the first Icelander to win an award at any international convention. Personally, I like how Juliana uses certain oils to play on lighting, and to give emphasis to certain areas of the face. As well as almost smudged or blurry scenes of Iceland. Giving emphasis to the daily occurrence of the Icelandic landscape to her.

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Jóhannes Sveinsson Kjarval (15 October 1885 – 13 April 1972)

Jóhannes Sveinsson Kjarval is an Icelandic painter. One of the better known Icelandic painters (He is on the 2,000 Krona note). Kjarval was born on the south coast of Iceland on a farm into poverty. Later on he was adopted by his relatives, and then relocated himself to the eastern coast. There Kjarval was taught to be a fisherman by his adoptive parents. While training to be a fisherman, Kjarval regularly drew, and sketched the landscapes that he worked in. He learned to paint, and was informed about better sketching techniques from two other people I talked about before as well. These people are Ásgrímur Jónsson for painting, and Þórarinn Benedikt. Þorláksson for sketching. However, at the age of 27, with the help of friends, and grants from the Icelandic Confederation of Labor, Kjarval took an entrance exam and got into the Royal Academy of Fine Art in Denmark. There he honed his skills and became a great painter and he graduated in 1917. Kjarval’s main styles of paint are Cubism, Expressionism, and Impressionism. Kjarval was also awarded the Prince Eugen Medal by the King of Sweden at the time Gustav VI Adolf. In 1968, Kjarval gave a fair sum of his paintings to the city of Reykjavik. From the point of the donation, the collection has grown decently, and is now an amazing sight to see.

Images from WikiArt.org and TheIcelandicTimes.com

Hvitasunnudagr, 1919

Kiddi og jeg, 1950

The Sisters of Stapi, 1948

Amazon Woman of the Mountain, 1961

Land and Air, 1965

Skjaldbreiður

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Sossa

sossa málverk

Sossa is one of the most interesting artists I have on this list. She has a degree from the Fine Arts Department of the Royal Danish Academy and also has a Masters degree from Tufts University and the School of the Museum Fine Arts in Boston. Her work usually contains humans and settings in regards to everyday life. Her work has been showcased across Europe and in other parts of the world.

All photos from sossa.is.