Ásgrímur Jónsson

Guðrún Jóna Halldórsdóttir

Ragnheiður Vignisdóttir

The exhibition A Window in Reykjavík comprises a selection of works by Ásgrímur Jónsson, whose common factor is that they relate to the artist's surroundings in Reykjavík. The works form part of the collection of the National Gallery of Iceland; Ásgrímur Jónsson bequeathed to the Icelandic nation all his works of art, along with his home and studio at Bergstaðastræti 74, Reykjavík.

Exhibition

A Window in Reykjavík

Ásgrímur Jónsson (1876–1958) was one of the pioneers of Icelandic visual art and the first Icelandic painter to make art his main profession. Ásgrímur was born on March 4th, 1876 on the farm Suðurkot in Rútsstaðahverfi in South Iceland's Flói region. In 1897 he moved to Copenhagen, where he studied at the Royal Danish Academy of Art from 1900 to 1903. Ásgrímur stayed abroad until 1909 and spent his last winter in Italy. On his way to and from Italy he stopped in Berlin and Weimar and saw, among others, the works of the French Impressionists, which made a deep impact on him.


Ásgrímur Jónsson died in 1958 and bequeathed all his own works that remained in his possession to the Icelandic nation, along with a property at Bergstaðastræti 74 in Reykjavík. The Ásgrímur Jónsson Collection was opened in his house in 1960. In 1987, when the National Gallery of Iceland moved to its own premises, the Ásgrímur Jónsson Collection was merged with the National Gallery in accordance with clauses in his will. The Ásgrímur Jónsson Collection is now a special division of the National Gallery of Iceland.
