Everywhere we went in Iceland we saw wonderful works of art, particularly sculptures. Just near the magnificent Hallgrímskirkja there is a museum (unfortunately not open when we visited) and a sculpture garden displaying the works of Einar Jónsson. The museum was closed but we could wander round the garden and admire many of Jónsson’s works.
Jónsson was born in 1874 in southern Iceland, and like so many of his contemporaries he studied abroad, in Denmark which governed Iceland at that time, and to Rome. I’m sure if we had had access to the museum and some information about the pieces in the garden we would have understood what they were about, but in a way that liberated us to just look and wonder and imagine and enjoy. Some of the pieces seemed quite troubling, and about stories and people we knew nothing about.
However because of this we were free to just appreciate the sculptures and understand them as we wanted. I hope to return to Reykjavik one day and if we do then I will really try to get into the museum so we can learn more about Jónsson; I know I can research him without actually visiting, but it’s not quite the same as standing before a work and looking at it and reading it there in situ.
It was a gloomy day and my photos look gloomy and faded too!
Lois Elsden 