Art Profile of the Month, Iceland
Installation shots from the exhibition Resistance, Interplay of Art and Science. Photo: Sigurður Gunnarsson © the National Gallery of Iceland
Free and poetic – an exploration of Icelandic art With a short classic art history to refer to – or be confined by – the modern and contemporary artists of Iceland have created on their own terms. Their free approach, often inspired by nature and immediate surroundings or context, can be explored in the three equally distinct venues of the National Gallery of Iceland in Reykjavik. By Signe Hansen
A humble artist abode, an old icehouse restored with modern exhibition units, and a library building that was known as the largest and finest building in Iceland in the early 20th century – just as the artworks they house, the three exhibition venues of the National Gallery of Iceland represent a diverse and free approach to the world of visual art. Asked what defines the Icelandic artists presented in the gallery’s large collection and many special exhibitions, director of marketing and development, Dorothée Kirch, says: “It’s difficult to say because Icelandic artists don’t want to be pinned down, but nature appears to play a crucial role and people also often talk about a characteristically poetic ap56
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Issue 160
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November 2023
proach. Moreover, we have a rather short classic art history in terms of visual arts and that is reflected in what is done now – it is very free, very experimental, and it can be very abstract.”
Indeed, while artists of other cultures might be influenced by their culture’s art history through periods such as the Renaissance, in Iceland, the first formally trained artists appeared only at the turn of the last century, when they left, mostly to Copenhagen, around 1900 to study art or sculpturing. It was only then that the visual arts started developing as an offspring of the island nation’s strong craft traditions. Icelandic art from the 19th and 20th century By purchasing one combined ticket, visitors can visit all three of the National Gallery’s locations, the main gallery, the House of Collections, and Home of an Artist. The latter is, as the name indicates, the former home of Ásgrímur Jónsson (1876– 1958), one of the pioneers in the history of Icelandic art and the first Icelandic painter to make a career in art. In his humble abode, visitors can explore an exhibition