Jóhannes Geir Jónsson

Jóhannes Geir Jónsson (born 24. June 1927, d. 29. June 2003) was an

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

ic painter. He was born and raised in

Skagafjörður Skagafjörður () is a deep fjord and its valley in northern Iceland. Location Skagafjörður, the fjord, is about 40 km long and 15 km wide, situated between Tröllaskagi to the east and the Skagi, Skagi Peninsula to the west. Ther ...

in northern Iceland. His father was a local schoolmaster; his much younger mother died from child labour when he was 9 years old. As a child Jóhannes demonstrated a talent for drawing and painting. When the time came, he eventually persuaded his father to allow him to pursue his artistic interests rather than the academic career pre-planned for him. He studied art in

Reykjavík Reykjavík is the Capital city, capital and largest city in Iceland. It is located in southwestern Iceland on the southern shore of Faxaflói, the Faxaflói Bay. With a latitude of 64°08′ N, the city is List of northernmost items, the worl ...

and subsequently in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Although he earned high remarks from his respected tutors, he initially had trouble making a living from his art after his homecoming, working mainly as an illustrator for advertisement agencies. He had trouble "finding his own style", and became depressive, which proved to be a blessing in disguise: Rather than painting the "classic" landscapes derivative of contemporary Icelandic artists, he began painting dark images from his youth in northern Iceland, seemingly haunted by the early loss of his mother and the strict (though caring) upbringing by his widowed father. Around 1965 the local art community started taking more notice of this little known young artist and his "dark, depressive" paintings. Art critics heaped praise on his works; this was quintessentially Icelandic art, but under obvious influence from the works of

Edvard Munch Edvard Munch ( ; ; 12 December 1863 – 23 January 1944) was a Norwegian painter. His 1893 work ''The Scream'' has become one of Western art's most acclaimed images. His childhood was overshadowed by illness, bereavement and the dread of inher ...

or even

Goya Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes (; ; 30 March 1746 – 16 April 1828) was a Spanish romantic painter and printmaker. He is considered the most important Spanish artist of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. His paintings, drawings, an ...

. Over the next few years he became one of the best known, best selling, and most respected painters in Iceland. Success also spelled the end of his "depressive era". Instead he turned his attention to painting Icelandic landscapes, but now with his unique unmistakable style - characterized with bright shining colours depicting (or amplifying) the beauty of a sometimes dull landscape. In the late 1970s, being an established successful artist, Jóhannes could divide some attention to one of his lifelong interests - The Viking

Sagas Sagas are prose stories and histories, composed in Iceland and to a lesser extent elsewhere in Scandinavia. The most famous saga-genre is the (sagas concerning Icelanders), which feature Viking voyages, migration to Iceland, and feuds between ...

- and incorporate them into his art. For the rest of his life, he made hundreds of illustrations based on the Sagas, ranging all the way from grand oil paintings to small pencil sketches. Despite his failing health, Jóhannes kept on working until his dying day. He was one of the most prolific Icelandic artists of his generation, and his works decorate the walls of many public buildings as well as private homes in Iceland. {{DEFAULTSORT:Jonsson, Johannes Geir 1927 births 2003 deaths Johannes Geir Jonsson 20th-century Icelandic male artists Icelandic male painters Johannes Geir Jonsson