Icelandic Art 1900-1950: From Landscape to Abstract Art

The exhibition traces the development of Icelandic art from the first formally-trained artists around 1900 until the advent of the abstract about half a century later. The story is told in four stages, exhibited in two galleries.

West Gallery: the story begins with the Romantic naturalism and symbolism of the early pioneers of Icelandic art, influenced by new and radical trends in European art.  The second stage of the exhibition focuses on the development of Icelandic landscape art in its heyday between 1930 and 1950.

Kjarval Gallery: the third stage of the exhibition showcases the new approaches of a younger generation of artists in 1930-50, where the focus was on the social realities of the time.

Finally, the early years of abstract art in Iceland are explored, along with the impact of new ideas on the role of art in the 1940s.

The exhibition comprises paintings and sculptures by forty artists. These have been gathered together from various sources, and many of them have not been on public display for many years.

Exhibition design  Ívar Valgarðsson