Tímarit Þjóðræknisfélags Íslendinga - 01.01.1962, Síða 76

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TÍMARIT ÞJÓÐRÆKNISFÉLAGS ISLENDINGA
number of angels found in his works.
We might mention “The Angel of
Life” (1910-1911), “The Angel of
Light” (same year, a painting, “The
Guardian Angel” (1910-1947), and
“Jacob Wrestling with the Angel.”
Since faith in Christ was the foun-
dation of Jónsson’s philosophy of
life, it is natural that Christ should
also figure prominently in his
works. The Christ motif, apparently,
occurs first in a painting entitled
“The Hour of Death” (1908-1915)
and in the statue “The First Settler
in Iceland (an Irish Monk)” (1908-
1917) and recurs again and again
after that, culminating in 1946 with
a head of Christ and a ten-foot
statue of Christ and in 1950 with
a relief entitled “Come unto Me.”
The last named, which appears to
have been begun in 1917 as an ela-
boration on an earlier painting (1913-
1915), is an eloquent expression of
the artist’s belief that Christ is the
center of our existence—the goal
toward which all life is tending.
Judging by the time of the ap-
pearance of the angel and the
Christ motifs, it may be added in
this connection, Jónsson’s return to
religion would seem to have taken
place in about 1908. The themes
of the victory of good over evil and
of the upward surge of the human
spirit, however, appear earlier in
two of the works mentioned above
—“Dawn” and “The Wave of the
Ages,” respectively. Perhaps the
artist conceived these works before
his skeptical period. Or it may be
that, because they “served life,”
they were spared the destruction
which later befell those of the works
of that period which reflected the
artist’s spiritual uncertainty.18
It has not been my purpose to
suggest that all of Jónsson’s pictures
contain some religious or philoso-
phical idea. I have stressed the
religious and philosophical side,
however, because I feel it is almost
certainly the single most important
aspect of his art—and more so
in his later works; for a study of
his works in chronological order re-
veals an increasing preoccupation
with religious and philosophical
questions with the passing years.
His fondness for symbolism no
doubt derives from his theory that
life and existence are one great
metaphor reflecting spiritual truths,
some of which he wished to express
in his art; therefore at least a nod-
ding acquaintance with his religious
and philosophical views is indis-
pensable to any attempt at under-
standing the symbolism in a large
part of his works. It goes with-
out saying that much has been left
unsaid here on this score, but I hope,
nevertheless, that what little has
been said will provide a background
for divining the meanings behind
at least a few of Jónsson’s works.
It is tempting to conclude with
a tentative interpretation of what
probably was Jónsson’s last work,
left unfinished the year before his
death, namely the relief “Draumur
og dagsverk” (Aspiration and A-
chievement; literally, “A Dream and
a Day’s Work,” 1953). It pictures an
angel standing over a snail which
is striving upwards. I take this to
be Jónsson’s final summing up of
his attitude toward his artistic
18. Skodanir, p. 90.