Jóhannes S. Kjarval: Can't Draw a Harebell and Sölvi Helgason: Floral Fantasy

Exhibitions Openings: Jóhannes S. Kjarval: Can't Draw a Harebell and Sölvi Helgason: Floral Fantasy.

The artist Eggert Pétursson (b. 1956) has assembled an exhibition of the floral works of Jóhannes S. Kjarval. Upon taking on this project for Reykjavík Art Museum, Eggert decided to examine the floral factor in Kjarval’s work and approach it from an artistic viewpoint. According to Eggert, Kjarval’s flower works are more extensive than his own, Kjarval traverses all over. He does not limit himself to botany but paints and sketches flowers around him, be it ornamental plants, potted plants or wildflowers, and last but not least he paints the flora of the mind. Eggert resolved to categorise the works by their elements and figurative connection and display them as he would his own work. His selection is intended to create a coherent exhibition rather than as a historical overview of Kjarval’s floral works.

Sölvi Helgason (1820-1895), or Sólon Íslandus as he also called himself, is indisputably Iceland’s most fascinating folk artist; a charismatic outsider both in his life and in his art. He was a rover, a scholar and an artist, but also a capricious eccentric who disobeyed the law of men and was hence punished with imprisonment.