Kjarval: la durée – Curator Talk

Gallery Talk with Curator Aldís Arnardóttir.

The exhibition la durée by Jóhannes Sveinsson Kjarval (1885-1972) has many rarely seen pieces, particularly from his early years.

During the second decade of the 20th century Kjarval became influenced by prevailing currents in Europe, where various Avant-Garde movements were chiefly characterised by analytical shapes and a turnover of the viewpoint, especially so Cubists and Futurists.

Kjarval did not limit himself to a certain style or ideology, but sought influences widely and put his own personal spin on the trends and style. The exhibition title, la durée, is a reference to the theory of the French philosopher Henri Bergson (1851-1941), who was well-known among the public as well as the art and culture elite in Europe and USA at the beginning of the 20th century.

This exhibition aims to show how the influence of Bergson's ideas appear in Kjarval's imagery, from his early years, where he deals with time as a duration within the same painting, by twisting the shapes, thus creating movement and flow. Later, in his series of landscapes where he repeats the same subject again and again from the same viewpoint, we see how he works with time as repetition. By repeating his work, Kjarval manages to delve deep into his perception of nature and time as real time or duration.

The event will be held in Icelandic. Free with admission.