Gunnfríður Jónsdóttir (26 December 1889 – 1968), was an Icelandic sculptor born in the North West of

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 ...

Family

Gunnfríður's grandfather was Einar Andrésson, a rhymester who had been suspected of witchcraft.Davíðsson, Steingrím, Gunnfrídur Jónsdóttir: Listaverk, Gefið Út Á Kostnað Listakonunnar, 1964, translated from Icelandic by Einar Ragnarsson Kvaran Her parents were Halldóra Einarsdóttir Andréssonar and Jón Jónsson.

Early life

At the age of 19 Gunnfríður attended a young women's school, but was forced to move to

Akureyri Akureyri (, ) is a town in northern Iceland, the country's fifth most populous Municipalities of Iceland, municipality (under the official name of Akureyrarbær , 'town of Akureyri') and the largest outside the Capital Region (Iceland), Capital R ...

and learn to be a seamstress after the school burned down. She was to be successful both in Iceland and in

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

, where she moved in 1919. By 1924 she had returned to Iceland and that year she married Icelandic sculptor

Ásmundur Sveinsson Ásmundur Sveinsson (20 May 1893 – 9 December 1982) was an Icelandic sculptor, whose works include “ Thor's gavel”, the ornate gavel used by the President of United Nations General Assembly. Early years Ásmundur Sveinsson was born in Kol ...

. She returned with him to

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

, where he was studying with sculptor

Carl Milles Carl Milles (; 23 June 1875 – 19 September 1955) was a Swedes, Swedish sculpture, sculptor. He was married to artist Olga Milles (née Granner) and brother to Ruth Milles and half-brother to the architect Evert Milles. Carl Milles sculpted the ...

. In 1929 they returned to Iceland, making their home in Reykjavík. Gunnfríður and Ásmundar were divorced about 1940.

Work

In 1931, shortly after returning to Iceland, Gunnfríður created her first sculpture, ''A Dreaming Boy''. This was followed by many other works, a good number of them portraits. The

National Gallery of Iceland The National Gallery of Iceland ( ) is an art museum in Reykjavík which contains a collection of Icelandic art. The gallery features artwork of famous Icelandic artists and artwork that helps explain the traditional Icelandic culture. History ...

collection contains a number of her works. Her best known sculpture, ''Land in Sight'', carved from Norwegian granite, was dedicated at

Strandarkirkja Strandarkirkja () is a Lutheran (Church of Iceland) parish church in Selvogur , on the southern coast of Iceland. The church is a landmark for travellers at sea. It has more supporters all over the world than any other church in Iceland and is oft ...

in 1950. The work commemorates a local tale of a sailor, lost at sea during a terrible storm, who was guided to shore by a shining female figure. He promised to build a church if he was saved, and thus the first church on that spot was erected around the year 1200. Since that time the bay has been referred to as "Angel Cove".

References

* Bjarnasson, Kondáð, ''Strandarkirkja: The Church at Strönd in Selvogur'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Jonsdottir, Gunnfridur 1889 births 1968 deaths Gunnfrídur Jónsdóttir Modern sculptors Gunnfrídur Jónsdóttir Gunnfrídur Jónsdóttir 20th-century women sculptors