Þórarinn Benedikt Þorláksson (February 14, 1867 – July 10, 1924)Kunst Index Danmark
Thorarinn B. Thorlaksson
URL last accessed August 13, 2007. was one of

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's first contemporary painters, the first Icelander to exhibit paintings in Iceland, and recipient of the first public grant that country made to a painter.

Early life and career

Þórarinn was born in 1867, the 13th of 14 children of a clergyman father, who died when Þórarinn was just five years old. Originally trained and working as a

bookbinder Bookbinding is the process of building a book, usually in codex format, from an ordered stack of paper sheets with one's hands and tools, or in modern publishing, by a series of automated processes. Firstly, one binds the sheets of papers alon ...

, Þórarinn studied painting under a

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-trained Icelandic woman, Thóra Thoroddsen. In 1900 he was awarded a grant by the Icelandic Parliament to study art in Denmark, and he trained there from 1895 to 1899. Returning to Iceland, he held an exhibition of his works at a place perplexingly called Glasgow, in

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, in the summer of 1900—the first exhibition of Icelandic painting in Iceland. Þórarinn's principal interest was

landscape painting Landscape painting, also known as landscape art, is the depiction in painting of natural scenery such as mountains, valleys, rivers, trees, and forests, especially where the main subject is a wide view—with its elements arranged into a cohe ...

, and a dominant subject in this first exhibition of works was

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, a site of historical significance to Icelanders as the site of their parliaments (which dated back to 930 AD).

Later career

Þórarinn continued to paint, holding regular exhibitions until 1911. However, he required a regular income that could not be derived solely from his art. On December 30, 1913, he was appointed by

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Hannes Hafstein as one of the five people on the committee that designed the

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.Thorlacius, Birgir:
A brief history of the Icelandic flag
', ''Fáni Íslands, skjaldarmerki, þjóðsöngur, heiðursmerki'' ("The Flag, Coat of Arms, National Anthem and Official Honours of Iceland"), Office of the Prime Minister of Iceland, 1991. URL last accessed August 15, 2007. He taught drawing at the Technical College and other institutions in Reykjavík, and was principal of that college from 1916 to 1922. He also ran a shop selling art materials, journals and books until his death. Throughout his life he continued to paint, particularly in the countryside during the summers, and it was at his own summerhouse, Birkihlíð, that he died on July 10, 1924.

Selected paintings

Image:Hvita i Borgarfirdi.jpg, ''Hvítá in Borgarfjörður'', 1903 Image:Sumarkvold vid reykjavik.jpg, ''Summer Evening in Reykjavík'', 1904 Image:Fra Thingvollum II.jpg, ''From Þingvellir II'', 1905 Image:Solarlag vid tjornina.jpg, ''Sunset by Tjörnin'', 1905 Image:Foss thorarinn.jpg, ''Waterfall'', 1909 Image:Aning.jpg, ''Repose'', 1910 Image:Fra Thingvollum.jpg, ''From Þingvellir'', 1914 Image:Storisjor og Vatnajokull.jpg, ''Stórisjór and Vatnajökull'', 1921 Image:Hekla ur Laugardal.jpg, ''Hekla from Laugardalur'', 1922 Image:Heimili listamannsins.jpg, ''The Artist's Home'', 1923 Image:Ur Laugardal.jpg, ''From Laugardalur'', 1923

References

This biography is based on Júliana Gottskálksdóttir's essay in ''Þórarinn B. Þorláksson: Pioneer at the Dawn of a Century'' (see below)

Reading

*Ólafur Kvaran (ed.), ''Þórarinn B. Þorláksson: Pioneer at the Dawn of a Century'', Listasafn Íslands, Reykjavík, 2000. *Ólafur Kvaran and Karla Kristjánsdóttir (eds), ''Confronting Nature: Icelandic Art of the 20th Century'',

National Gallery of Iceland The National Gallery of Iceland ( ) is an art museum in Reykjavík which contains a collection of Icelandic art. The gallery features artwork of famous Icelandic artists and artwork that helps explain the traditional Icelandic culture. History ...

, Reykjavík, 2001. {{DEFAULTSORT:Thorlaksson, Thorarinn B. 1867 births 1924 deaths Icelandic landscape painters 20th-century Icelandic painters 20th-century Icelandic male artists Icelandic male painters