Art in a changing world

Nína Sæmundsson

6.11.2015 — 17.1.2016

National Gallery of Iceland
Picture shows a sculpture by Nína Sæmundsson, called Rökkur. The sculpture shows a naked woman kneeling.
National Gallery of Iceland

6.11.2015 17.1.2016

Curator

Hrafnhildur Schram

Nína Sæmundsson (1892–1965) was the first Icelandic woman to work as a professional sculptor. She was born into the farming society of the 19th century, that offered few opportunities to women of working-class background when it came to creating their own destiny and letting their dreams come true. In spite of this, the beginnings of Sæmundsson's career had the flavor of a fairy tale. During the twenties of the twentieth century she lived in the western world's art capitals, Rome, Paris and New York. Her story is a story of great victories won, but at the same time a story of dramatic losses that influenced her life to a great extent. From the start, Sæmundsson was strong-willed, and had a burning passion for art, she developed her classical style that she remained faithful to long into her career, and in those works she combined the magnificent and the intimate. The upright human became one of her main themes, along with the busts that she specialized in.

Photograph that shows stairwell at The National Gallery of Iceland, where two large pictures of a nose and an ear have been hung.

15.1.2016 — 1.5.2016

Treasures of Icelandic Art

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