Barbara Moray Williams Árnason (19 April 1911 – 1975) was an English-born Icelandic artist, known for book illustrations, engravings in wood, and watercolours.
Born in
Petersfield
Petersfield is a market town and civil parish in the East Hampshire district of Hampshire, England. It is north of Portsmouth. The town has its own Petersfield railway station, railway station on the Portsmouth Direct line, the mainline rai ...
, she was the twin sister of writer and illustrator
Ursula Moray Williams.
She attended
Winchester College of Art and the
Royal College of Art
The Royal College of Art (RCA) is a public university, public research university in London, United Kingdom, with campuses in South Kensington, Battersea and White City, London, White City. It is the only entirely postgraduate art and design uni ...
.
Soon after graduating she was asked to illustrate
Icelandic sagas
The sagas of Icelanders (, ), also known as family sagas, are a subgenre, or text group, of Icelandic sagas. They are prose narratives primarily based on historical events that mostly took place in Iceland in the ninth, tenth, and early elev ...
, which resulted in her travelling to Iceland in 1936, where she met sculptor and painter
Magnús Á. Árnason.
[ They married in 1937 and she moved to Iceland the same year.][
She was already known as a book illustrator before moving to Iceland, and also became known there for pioneering work in wood engraving and for watercolours of landscapes and children. She also worked with textiles, and in her final years with water-colour engraving.][ In 1952, she painted a mural titled ''Children at Play'' in the assembly hall of the Melaskóli, a school in ]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 ...
. She also created a large number of decorative plaques, some of which can still be seen near the school. She illustrated and designed covers for many children's books, but also illustrated the ''Passion Hymns'' of Hallgrímur Pétursson
Hallgrímur Pétursson (1614 – 27 October 1674) was an Icelandic poet and a minister at Hvalsneskirkja and Saurbær in Hvalfjörður. Being one of the most prominent Icelandic poets, the Hallgrímskirkja in Reykjavík and the Hallgrímskirkja ...
, which took her seven years.
The art museum in Kópavogur
Kópavogur () is a town in Iceland that is the country's second-largest municipality by population.
It lies immediately south of Reykjavík and is part of the Capital Region (Iceland), Capital Region. The name literally means ''seal pup inlet''. ...
, which holds a collection of her work, held a centennial exhibition for her in 2011, the opening presided over by the President of Iceland, Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson
Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson (; born 14 May 1943) is an Icelandic politician who was the fifth president of Iceland, serving from 1996 to 2016. .Reykjavík Art Museum
Reykjavik Art Museum ( ; founded in 1973) is the largest visual art institution in Iceland. It occupies three locations in Reykjavík
Reykjavík is the Capital city, capital and largest city in Iceland. It is located in southwestern Icela ...
the same year.
References
Further reading
*
External links
* at UMM (List of Artists), Samband Íslenskra Myndlistarmanna
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Arnason, Barbara
1911 births
1975 deaths
People from Petersfield
British emigrants to Iceland
Barbara Arnason
Barbara Arnason