Art has existed in Iceland since the first settlements, but it was only at the beginning of the 20th century that Icelandic artists came to an international reputation. Mostly, they had studied in other countries, e.g. in Denmark.
The most important motifs for Icelandic painters were the nature of their home country and the human being, but they also used mythical and supernatural themes as well as socio-realistic motives.
Around 1960 the Swiss-German artist Dieter Roth moved to Iceland. His engagement with the Icelandic art scene was of great importance in introducing movements such as conceptual art, Fluxus,
happening
A happening is a performance, event, or situation art, usually as performance art. The term was first used by Allan Kaprow during the 1950s to describe a range of art-related events.
History
Origins
Allan Kaprow first coined the term "happen ...
s, body art, life art and social sculpture, which since have formed a basis for Icelandic Contemporary Art.
Guðmundur Thorsteinsson
Guðmundur Pétursson Thorsteinsson (5 September 1891, Bíldudalur – 27 July 1924, Søllerød), better known as Muggur, was an Icelandic painter, graphic artist, author and film actor.
Biography
Muggur was born in Bíldudalur, Iceland. His fa ...
Þorvaldur Skúlason
Þorvaldur Skúlason (April 30, 1906 – August 30, 1984) was an Iceland
Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Euro ...
Svavar Guðnason
Svavar Guðnason (18 November 1909 – 25 June 1988) was an Icelandic painter active in the avant-garde movement
Movement may refer to:
Common uses
* Movement (clockwork), the internal mechanism of a timepiece
* Motion, commonly referred ...
(1909–1988)
*
Nína Tryggvadóttir
Nína Tryggvadóttir (March 16, 1913 – June 18, 1968) was born Jónína Tryggvadóttir in Seyðisfjörður, Iceland. She was one of Iceland's most important abstract expressionist artists and one of very few Icelandic female artists of her g ...
Bjarni Jónsson (artist)
Bjarni Jónsson (September 15, 1934 – January 8, 2008) was an Icelandic painter.
He was notable for his paintings of old Icelandic fishing boats, many of which have been added to the National Museum of Iceland, ''Þjóðminjasafn Íslands''. ...
Jón Óskar
Jón Óskar Ásmundsson (18 July 1921, in Akranes – 20 October 1998, in Reykjavík) was an Icelandic poet born in Akranes
Akranes () is a port town and municipality on the west coast of Iceland, around north of the capital Reykjavík.
The ...
Heimir Björgúlfsson
Heimir Björgúlfsson is an Icelandic artist born in Reykjavík, Iceland in 1975. Heimir lives and works in Los Angeles, California. He holds a BFA from the Gerrit Rietveld Academy and an MFA from the Sandberg Institute, both in Amsterdam, Neth ...
Hugleikur Dagsson
Þórarinn Hugleikur Dagsson (), nicknamed Hulli, born 5 October 1977 is an Icelandic artist. He received a B.A. degree from the Iceland Academy of the Arts in 2002.
He was a film critic in a popular Icelandic radio program on Radíó X and host ...
(born in 1977)
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Sigurður Guðjónsson Sigurður Guðjónsson is an Icelandic contemporary artist. He works in the field of installation art and video art.
Early life and career
Guðjónsson was born in 1975 in Reykjavík, Iceland. He studied art in Reykjavík at the Iceland University ...
Johann Eyfells
Jóhann Eyfells (21 June 1923 – 3 December 2019) was an Icelandic artist.
Originally trained as an architect, Jóhann worked as a Professor of Art at the University of Central Florida in Orlando from 1969 until his retirement from university ...
(1923–2019)
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Gerður Helgadóttir
Gerður Helgadóttir (1928–1975) was an Icelandic sculptor and stained glass artist.
She studied at the Art and Craft School of Iceland (MHÍ), in Denmark, at the Accademia di Belle Arti Firenze and at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière, P ...
(1928–1975)
* Einar Jónsson , Einar Jónsson (1874–1954)
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Gunnfríður Jónsdóttir
Gunnfríður Jónsdóttir (26 December 1889 – 1968), was an Icelandic sculptor born in the North West of Iceland.
Family
Gunnfríður's grandfather was Einar Andrésson, a rhymester who had been suspected of witchcraft.Davíðsson, Steingrí ...
Páll Guðmundsson
Páll Guðmundsson (; born 1959 in Húsafell in the west of Iceland, where he still lives) is a sculptor and artist.
He has done part of his studies at the University of Fine Arts in Cologne, Germany.
Mostly, he sculptures faces of people out ...
Þorbjörg Pálsdóttir
Þorbjörg Guðrún Pálsdóttir (February 10, 1919, Reykjavík – November 11, 2009, Reykjavík) was an Icelandic sculptor. She is perhaps best known for her four green alien-like public statues ''Dansleikur/Dance'' in Reykjavík, which she com ...
(1915–2009)
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Nína Sæmundsson
Nína Sæmundsson or Nina Saemundsson, born as Jónína Sæmundsdóttir (22 August 1892 – 29 January 1965) was an Icelandic artist, known for her sculptures and paintings. She was active between the 1920s until the 1960s in Los Angeles, New Yor ...
Steinunn Thorarinsdottir
Steinunn Þórarinsdóttir (transliterated as Thorarinsdottir; born April 20, 1955) is an Icelandic sculptor. Her work uses androgynous human figures such as those in her most notable exhibits ''Borders'' and ''Horizons''.
Biography
Steinunn ...
(born 1955)
Photographers
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Ragnar Axelsson
Ragnar Guðni Axelsson (born 6 March 1958), also known as RAX, is an Icelandic photographer.Sigfús Eymundsson (1837–1911)
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Rebekka Guðleifsdóttir
Rebekka Guðleifsdóttir (born 1978) is a photographer from Iceland who was named the "Web's Top Photographer" by the Wall Street Journal on 29 July 2006.
Biography
She lived in Gainesville, Florida from age 4 to age 11. She currently lives in ...
Heida Reed
Heiða Rún Sigurðardóttir known by her stage name Heida Reed (; born 22 May 1988), is an Icelandic actress and model. She is known for playing parts in '' One Day'', '' Jo'' (2013), '' Silent Witness'' (2014) and the BBC drama ''Poldark''. She ...
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Hera Hilmar
Hera Hilmarsdóttir (born 27 December 1988), known professionally as Hera Hilmar, is an Icelandic actress. She has been active in the film industry since 1995.
Personal life
Hera is the daughter of the film director Hilmar Oddsson and the actres ...
Ingvar E. Sigurðsson
Yngvar Harra (or Ingvar; Proto-Norse ''*Ingu-Hariz''; non, Yngvarr ; d. early 7th century) was the son of Östen and reclaimed the Swedish throne for the House of Yngling after the Swedes had rebelled against Sölvi.
He is reported to have ...
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Magnús Scheving
Magnús Örn Scheving (; born 10 November 1964) is an Icelandic writer, entrepreneur, television producer, actor and athlete. He is the creator, director, and star of the children's television show '' LazyTown'', in which he also portrayed th ...
Steinunn Ólína Þorsteinsdóttir
Steinunn Ólína Þorsteinsdóttir (born 2 July 1969) is an Icelandic actress, TV show host, producer and writer.
Biography
Early life
Ólína grew up in Reykjavík with her mother, actress Bríet Héðinsdóttir, and her father Þorsteinn Þo ...