Árdís - 01.01.1950, Page 36

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ÁRDÍ S
of Icelandic scenery. Iceland is a painter’s paradise full of beauty
with its purity of atmosphere and great variety of color and form.
The glaciers, the volcanoes, the beautiful fjörds and valleys, the
barren lava and thunderous waterfalls entrance the artists. Often
uid we see them with their easels and brushes squatting on a lonely
spot along the highways, capturing on their canvas the beauty of
a distant scene. Among the accepted leaders are: Asgrimur Jonsson
and Johannes S. Kjarval. The younger ones: Jon Thorleifson,
Gunnlaugur Blondal, Magnus Arnason and his wife Barbara
Morrow. We were fortunate in being able to see an exhibit by these
last two. The paintings were beautiful and the prices exorbitant.
Johannes Kjarval is the most popular and his paintings sell at
fabulous prices. In passing I might mention an artist of Icelandic
descent in America of whom we are justly proud. He is Emile
Walters who is well known for his landscape paintings and whose
art has been exhibited in several large cities both in Canada and
the U.S. At the present time one of his best known paintings
“The Harp of the Valkyries” is on exhibit in the Art Gallery of
Glasgow, Scotland — and has elicited much admiration. It has been
praised in such papers as The Scotsman, The Evening News, and
The London Times.
In sculpture, Einar Jónsson is generally hailed as a master.
His works are found in several European countries as well as in
the U.S. and Canada; but almost all of them are collected in the
museum which the Icelandic state erected to house his works in
Reykjavik. His works are the creations of his own poetical ideas,
akin to the old poets and skalds. Deeply influenced by Icelandic
nature, all his work bears the impress of it. They are ideas that
íilled his mind and sought an outlet in forms and shapes.
Before I close I am going to tell you a little about our home
while in Iceland. We were located on the south west peninsula,
in a small town called Gardi — of about 350 inhabitants. It is about
35 miles from Reykjavik and only 5 miles from one of the world’s
largest airports — at Keflavik — built by the Americans during
the war. The town is scattered and built on the sea-shore. It is
lit by electricity and even has mail delivery. It has a modern
community hall and a new school which our 15 year old
daughter attended. It had a good gymnasium, shower baths and
was very clean. The children were required to leave their shoes