Watery Hues: A Survey of Icelandic Watercolours

The exhibition Watery Hues, featuring more than 140 works by 60 artists, is the first attempt to document the role that watercolours have played in Icelandic art. The objective for the exhibition is to display the characteristics of the medium as well as to explore its diversity and the way it has developed over time. 

Particular characteristics of watercolours include transparency and delicacy, as well as an intimate connection with paper. They require quick and spontaneous application and, if everything goes well, the outcome is both original and lively. The exhibition contains works by many of the artists who have shaped the history of Icelandic art but also works by lesser-known artists who have used the medium with distinction. 

Watercolours have commonly been considered a medium primarily for sketching, preparatory work or documentation but, as this exhibition reveals, they serve a much wider role in Icelandic art.

We now realize that watercolours are among the most impressive works produced by Icelandic artists not only Ásgrímur Jónsson, but also Finnur Jónsson, Gunnlaugur Scheving, Svavar Guðnason and a host of others. Watercolours also play an important role in the work of the younger generations of Icelandic artists, who use the attributes of this ancient and ever vital medium to the utmost. 

Artists

Sunday 14. February 3 p.m.
Kjarvalsstaðir – Watery Hues
Curator´s Talk by Aðalsteinn Ingólfsson.

Sunday 28 February 2 p.m.
Kjarvalsstaðir – Watery Huses
Gallery Talk for the family and workshop.

Sunday 14 March 3 p.m.
Kjarvalsstaðir – Watery Hues
Lectures. Watery Hues: A Survey of Icelandic Watercolours.