University of Iceland Art Collection
Foundation
University of Iceland Art Collection was founded in 1980. Like many university art collections abroad, University of Iceland bases its collection partly on donations. The founding collection, donated by the couple Ingibjörg Guðmundsdóttir (1911-1994) and Sverrir Sigurðsson (1909-2002) weighs the most. They donated close to 1200 artworks to the collection which are among the most valuable gifts that the University of Iceland has received. Some Icelandic artists, or their estates, have also donated their artworks to the collection. The University of Iceland has altogether received 1300 artworks through donations. By adding the artworks that have been purchased, the collection now consists of 1550 artworks, which are exhibited regularly in the university buildings.
The founding collection was mostly made up of numerous abstract works from mid and second half of the 20th century, whish laid the foundation for a unique collection. At this exhibition abstract works by artists such as Þorvaldur Skúlason, Karl Kvaran, Hörður Ágústsson, Guðmunda Andrésdóttir, Eyborg Guðmundsdóttir and others, will be shown.
Kristín Jónsdóttir frá Munkaþverá
The Water and The Land
Kristín Jónsdóttir was born at Munkaþverá in Eyjafjörður 1933. She studied at The Reykjavík College of Craft and Art 1949-1952 and 1954-1957 she studied at the textile department of
The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, School of Design in Copenhagen. Jónsdóttir studied at École des Arts Italiennes and Atélier Freundlich in Paris 1959 and during the winter of 1963-1964 she studied in Italy, at Università per Stranieri in Perugia.
Kristín Jónsdóttir of Munkaþverá has held over 20 solo exhibitions in Iceland, the US and Canada. She has participated in numerous group exhibitions in Iceland and abroad. Her work can be found in the major art museums in Iceland as well as in Europe and the US. Jónsdóttir has also won different prizes and recognitions such as the silver-prize at the International Textile Triennial in Lódz, Poland 1992, as well as the Honorary Award of the Icelandic Visual Arts Council 2021 for her contribution to Icelandic visual arts.
Group exhibition
Solander 250: A Letter From Iceland
The exhibition Solander 250: A Letter from Iceland is held in remembrance of one of the first foreign scientific expedition to Iceland in 1772, i.e. 250 years ago. On this journey was one of Carl Linnaeus‘s apostles, the Swedish natural scientist Daniel Solander. Solander and his fellow travelers landed in Hafnarfjörður and travelled from there to Bessastaðir, Þingvellir, Geysir, Skálholt and climbed to the top of mount Hekla before they returned home. Among the things they recorded in Iceland were nature, culture, traditions and clothing. Ten Icelandic graphic-artists from the Icelandic Printmakers Association will interpret these events from 1772 and how the nation and the country have changed since then.
Simultaneously the exhibition Paradise Lost will be opened. Solander was the main botanist on the HMS Endeavor on the first European expedition to Australia. The exhibition has already been set up in New Zealand, Australia and Sweden. The two exhibitions thus form a unique dialogue between the Arctic and the Pacific through Daniel Solander's travels.
Þátttakendur / Participants: Anna Líndal, Aðalheiður Valgeirsdóttir, Daði Guðbjörnsson, Gíslína Dögg Bjarkadóttir, Guðmundur Ármann Sigurjónsson, Iréne Jensen, Laura Valentino, Soffía Sæmundsdóttir, Valgerður Björnsdóttir, Viktor Hannesson, John Pusateri, Alexis Neal, Dagmar Dyck, John McLean, Tabatha Forbes, Michel Tuffery, Sharnae Beardsley, Jo Ogier, Lynn Taylor, Jenna Packer.