Reykjavík Grapevine - 08.09.2017, Page 44

Þrándur Þórarinsson is a notable
painter who has more than once caught
Icelanders’ attention with his often
sharp and grim view of national folk-
lore and the city of Reykjavík. His pow-
erful painting of the primeval figure
Grýla has also impressed the rest of the
world. The previous issue of the Rey-
kjavík Grapevine featured one of his
paintings, in which he depicted, in a
very effective way, the new reality of
tourism in Iceland.
Hugleikur dagsson, ‘Beastie,’ crayons
and pencil on paper, 1990.
The first, and arguably greatest, artis-
tic influence in my life came from my
first cousin, Hugleikur Dagsson. We
would draw together as kids, and when-
ever we lived far apart I eagerly await-
ed the moment we would meet again
and compare sketchbooks. My moth-
er brought me this drawing of his at a
time when I was living in Norway, and
we had it framed and hung on the wall
where it stayed well over a decade. I be-
lieve it to be among his earliest surviv-
ing drawings and I dare say it’s a fairly
representative work for this period.
Agnolo di Cosimo aka. Bronzino, ‘Venus
and Cupid,’ Oil on Panel, 1546.
As a teenager I would seek out great
drawings and draftsmen, mostly in
comics and role-playing art, but even-
tually it dawned on me that the greatest
draftsmen of them all were these so-
called old masters. I read “Aldateikn”
(1974), a history of western art written
by Björn Th. Björnsson (godfather to
the field of art history in Iceland), with
images in black and white, and was
completely captivated. I particularly fa-
voured the passage explaining this fa-
mous allegory by the Florentine man-
nerist Bronzino. This painting is
densely layered with obscure symbols
and references that have eluded art his-
torians to this day, although Björn had
no trouble figuring it all out. The idea
that a seemingly incomprehensible
painting like this could be “deciphered”
appealed to me and thus started my un-
dying love affair with the old masters.
Odd Nerdrum, ‘Death of Andreas Baader,’
Oil on canvas, 1978.
In this early masterpiece by my mentor
Odd Nerdrum, we see the supposed
murder of Andreas Baader, one of the
leaders of the terrorist organisation
Red Army Faction, in the Stammheim
Prison in 1977. According to official
sources, Baader committed suicide in
prison, but rumours quickly spread
that he had been murdered by secret
agents. I was very taken with this pic-
ture when I saw it as a young man—the
pronounced tenebrism and strong
composition coupled with contempo-
rary and controversial subject matter
really struck a chord that has reverber-
ated in my mind ever since.
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, ‘In bed,’ Oil
on cardboard, 1893.
Lautrec’s work attracted me at an early
age due to it’s superb draftsmanship
and colouring, and its often seedy
nightlife subject matter had a particu-
lar appeal. Henri painted numerous
scenes from the brothel where he lived
for weeks at a time, and among
the most puzzling are his intimate and
delicate portrayals of lesbian lovers. In
the Belle Époque of Paris there was no
shortage of titillating lesbian imagery,
but in Henri’s treatment of this subject
we are faced with plump, plain women,
washed out, past their prime, showing
each other tenderness and care. Living
in the brothel he would see them cling-
ing together for solace and affection.
Outcasts from society, much like him-
self. You don’t generally get much af-
fection in Lautrec—he is not a senti-
mental artist—but he gets sentimental
and affectionate when he paints his
lesbians in love.
Käthe Kollwitz, ‘Woman with Dead Child,’
Etching, 1903.
I first encountered Käthe Kollwitz’s
works as a child, looking through my
parents’ bookshelf, and this encoun-
ter turned into a life-long fascination.
Most of her works depict the hard-
ships suffered by the working class.
Themes of war and poverty dominate
her oeuvre, and images of women
grieving dead children are a recurring
theme—an experience that Kollwitz
suffered herself when her son died in
WWI. Kollwitz’s exploration of human
suffering amounted to a damning ver-
dict of social conditions in Germany.
This particular image is atypical for
her in that all external references have
been omitted. There is no clue as to the
setting, or identity of these figures—
even their clothes have been left out.
This is stark naked grief, boiled down
to its bare essentials. Käthe has under-
scored the primal element in this work
by giving the women slightly ape-like
features.
Art 44The Reykjavík GrapevineIssue 16 — 2017
NO BUN
NO FUN
Lautrec’s Affections and The
Death of Andreas Baader
The Making of Þrándur Þórarinsson
THE MAKING OF
AN ARTIST

Words:
Þrándur
Þórarinsson
Photo:
Art Bicnick
Þrándur Þórarinsson is a well renown artist in Iceland