Ásgrímur Jónsson (March 4, 1876 – April 5, 1958) was an

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

ic painter, and one of the first in the country to make art a professional living. He studied at the

Royal Academy The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House in Piccadilly London, England. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its ...

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

between 1900 and 1903 and traveled widely after graduation. The subjects of his pictures are mostly the

landscape A landscape is the visible features of an area of land, its landforms, and how they integrate with natural or human-made features, often considered in terms of their aesthetic appeal.''New Oxford American Dictionary''. A landscape includes th ...

s of his home country, particularly mountains. His painting style is similar to the French impressionists like

Corot CoRoT (French: ; English: Convection, Rotation and planetary Transits) was a space telescope mission which operated from 2006 to 2013. The mission's two objectives were to search for extrasolar planets with short orbital periods, particularly t ...

. Some of his pictures also illustrate Icelandic

saga Sagas are prose stories and histories, composed in Iceland and to a lesser extent elsewhere in Scandinavia. The most famous saga-genre is the (sagas concerning Icelanders), which feature Viking voyages, migration to Iceland, and feuds between ...

s and folk tales. He was also noted for his murals in various churches in Iceland. A number of his works are on display in the National Gallery of Iceland. Ásgrímur influenced many artists in Iceland including Jóhannes Sveinsson Kjarval. A short time before he died he donated his house at No. 74, Bergstaðastræti,

Reykjavík Reykjavík is the Capital city, capital and largest city in Iceland. It is located in southwestern Iceland on the southern shore of Faxaflói, the Faxaflói Bay. With a latitude of 64°08′ N, the city is List of northernmost items, the worl ...

to the Icelandic Government along with all those paintings which were at that time in his possession. These consisted of 192 oil paintings and 277 water colours together with a great number of unfinished pictures dating from various periods in his life. His house is now the Ásgrímur Jónsson Collection, part of the National Gallery of Iceland. During his lifetime Ásgrímur was honoured in many ways. He was made honorary professor at the

University of Iceland The University of Iceland ( ) is a public research university in Reykjavík, Iceland, and the country's oldest and largest institution of higher education. Founded in 1911, it has grown steadily from a small civil servants' school to a modern co ...

and, in 1933 he was made Grand Knight of the Icelandic Order of the Falcon. He was an honorary member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Arts and Knight of Dannebrog, first class. He died in 1958 and was buried on the cemetery of Gaulverjabæjar Church in Flóahreppur.

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External links

Ásgrímur Jónsson at the National Gallery of Iceland
{{DEFAULTSORT:Asgrimur Jonsson 1876 births 1958 deaths Icelandic Impressionist painters Icelandic landscape painters 19th-century Icelandic painters 19th-century Icelandic male artists 20th-century Icelandic painters 20th-century Icelandic male artists Knights First Class of the Order of the Dannebrog Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Arts Icelandic male painters

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