Johan Steffan Danielsen (3 September 1922 – 28 May 1976) was a Faroese painter.
Life and work
The self-taught artist Steffan Danielsen was born in
Nólsoy Nólsoy (previously also ''Nölsoy''; da, Nolsø; non, Norsey) is an island and village in central Faroe Islands, 4 km east of the capital Tórshavn in Streymoy.
Description
Nólsoy is the lowest of the Faroes; the highest point is Eggjark ...
,
Faroe Islands
The Faroe Islands ( ), or simply the Faroes ( fo, Føroyar ; da, Færøerne ), are a North Atlantic island group and an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark.
They are located north-northwest of Scotland, and about halfway bet ...
. He found most of the inspiration for his pictures in his home village Nólsoy and the island of same name. In his art Danielsen distils the essence of the landscape in an original way.
Bárður Jákupsson in his book ''Færøernes billedkunst'' (Färöi screen end art) compares Danielsen with the classical author
Sámal Mikines, who lived on a similarly small, remote and inaccessible
Faroe Island:
Mykines. Both islands have important bird colonies and both islands have only one village. Danielsen spent most of his 24 productive years on Nólsoy, with just one period abroad in
Denmark
)
, song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast")
, song_type = National and royal anthem
, image_map = EU-Denmark.svg
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark
, establish ...
between 1951 and 1956. His first exhibition in 1952 in
Ólavsøka
Ólavsøka is the biggest summer festival in the Faroe Islands, and by most Faroese considered as the national holiday of the Faroes along with Flag Day on 25 April. Ólavsøka is celebrated over two days, from the 28th to the 29th of July, th ...
brought him to the attention of the Faroese art community.
Danielsen's paintings describe his homeland island in everyday detail, capturing not only the landscapes, boats, buildings but also the atmosphere and spirit of the place. He captures the light, with sun and rain, snow and fog, and the predominantly red tones allude sensitively to the colour nuances of the Faroese landscape.
Danielsen died in
Tórshavn
Tórshavn (; lit. "Thor's harbour"), usually locally referred to as simply ''Havn'', is the capital and largest city of the Faroe Islands. It is located in the southern part on the east coast of Streymoy. To the northwest of the city lies the ...
, Faroe Islands.
Gallery
His paintings of Nólsoy were featured on a series of Faroese stamps in 1990:
Image:Faroe stamp 201 steffan danielsen - nolsoy.jpg, FR 201
Image:Faroe stamp 202 steffan danielsen - nolsoy.jpg, FR 202
Image:Faroe stamp 203 steffan danielsen - nolsoy.jpg, FR 203
Image:Faroe stamp 204 steffan danielsen - nolsoy.jpg, FR 204
and also in this stamp of 1985:
Image:Faroe stamp 114 steffan danielsen.jpg, Stamp FR 114: ''Winter day'', Nólsoy 1959, 65x87cm, Listasavn Føroya City map detail of Tórshavn, the museum is marked red.
Listasavn Føroya (National Gallery of the Faroe Islands) is an art museum in Tórshavn, Faroe Islands for mostly permanent exhibits of Faroese arts.
Established in 1989, it consists of a gal ...
(The Faroe Islands Art Museum)
Sources
* text translated from
:de:Steffan Danielsen
See also
*
Art of the Faroe Islands
External links
Art.fo - art museum of the Faroes
Faroeartstamps.fo - art on Faroese stamps
1922 births
1976 deaths
20th-century Faroese painters
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