Sturla Gudlaugsson (1913 – 1971) was a Danish-born Dutch art historian and director of the

RKD The Netherlands Institute for Art History or RKD (Dutch: RKD-Nederlands Instituut voor Kunstgeschiedenis), previously Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie (RKD), is located in The Hague and is home to the largest art history center i ...

and the Mauritshuis in The Hague. Gudlaugsson was born in

Skagen Skagen () is Denmark's northernmost town, on the east coast of the Skagen Odde peninsula in the far north of Jutland, part of Frederikshavn Municipality in Nordjylland, north of Frederikshavn and northeast of Aalborg. The Port of Skage ...

as the son of the Icelandic poet Jonas Gudlaugsson, but his father died when he was three and he grew up in Kleef with his mother's extended Dutch family.Obituary in the DBNL by his colleague Horst Gerson He studied in Berlin and worked first there until he felt he needed to leave the Nazi regime and got a job in Denmark. He then worked briefly at the Gemeentelijk museum in The Hague before starting work at the RKD in 1942. He is best known for his research on Dutch painting iconography, most notably in the works of

Jan Steen Jan Havickszoon Steen (c. 1626 – buried 3 February 1679) was a Dutch Golden Age painter, one of the leading genre painters of the 17th century. His works are known for their psychological insight, sense of humour and abundance of colour. Lif ...

and Gerard ter Borch. ''Geraert ter Borch'', and ''Katalog der Gemälde Gerard Ter Borchs sowie biographisches Material'', by S J Gudlaugsson, 1960 Gudlaugsson left the RKD to become director of the Mauritshuis in 1970, but he died the next year in

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"Ne ...

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WorldCat WorldCat is a union catalog that itemizes the collections of tens of thousands of institutions (mostly libraries), in many countries, that are current or past members of the OCLC global cooperative. It is operated by OCLC, Inc. Many of the O ...

Gudlaugssons
in the Dictionary of Art Historians 1913 births 1971 deaths People from Skagen Dutch art historians Danish emigrants to the Netherlands {{Netherlands-historian-stub