Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The Einar Jónsson museum
Eiríksgata • June to mid-Sept Tues-Sun 2-5pm; mid-Sept to Nov & Feb-May Sat & Sun 2-5pm • 600kr •
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lej.is
The heroic form of the Leifur Eiríksson statue is found in several other statues around
the city, many of them the work of
Einar Jónsson
(1874-1954), who is remembered
more officially by the pebbledash building to the right of Hallgrímskirkja at the corner
of Eiríksgata and Njarðargata, home to the
Einar Jónsson museum
. Einar was Iceland's
foremost modern
sculptor
, and this cube-like structure was built by him between
1916 and 1923; he lived here in the upstairs apartment with his Danish wife, Anna.
He worked here in an increasingly reclusive manner until his death in 1954, when
the building was given over to displaying more than a hundred of his works, many
based on religious themes and Icelandic folklore. A specially constructed group of
rooms, connected by slim corridors and a spiral staircase, takes the visitor through a
chronological survey of Einar's career - and it's pretty deep stuff. Einar claimed that his
self-imposed isolation and total devotion to his work enabled him to achieve mystical
states of creativity, and looking at the pieces exhibited here, many of them heavy with
religious allegory and all dripping with spiritual energy, it's a claim that doesn't seem
far-fetched; look out for his
Vókumaðurinn
(
(The Guardian
)
from 1902, a ghost keeping
watch over a graveyard to make sure the dead receive a decent burial. If the museum
is closed, peek into the
garden
at the rear, where several examples of Einar's work
are displayed alfresco; his most visible work, the statue of independence leader Jón
Sigurðsson, stands in front of the Alþingishúsið in Austurvöllur square (see p.56).
1
Kjarvalsstaðir
Flókagata 24 • Daily 10am-5pm • 1100kr •
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artmuseum.is
Despite being surrounded by birch trees and pleasant grassy expanses, the
Kjarvalsstaðir
art gallery is an ugly 1960s-style concrete structure, though inside it's surprisingly
bright and airy. Part of the Reykjavík Art Museum, it's devoted to the work of Iceland's
most celebrated artist,
Jóhannes Sveinsson Kjarval
(1885-1972). After working on a
fishing trawler during his youth, Jóhannes moved abroad to study art, spending time
in London, Copenhagen, France and Italy, but it was only after his return to Iceland
in 1940 that he travelled widely in his own country, drawing on the raw beauty he
saw around him for the quasi-abstract depictions of Icelandic landscapes which made
him one of the country's most popular twentieth-century painters. Painted in oils,
much of his work is a surreal fusion of colour: his bizarre yet pleasing
Krítik
(
Critique
)
from 1946-7, a melee of icy blues, whites and greys measuring a whopping 4m in
length and 2m in height, is the centrepiece of the exhibition, portraying a naked man
jauntily bending over to expose his testicles while catching a fish, watched over, rather
oddly, by a number of Norse warriors. The museum is divided into two halls - the
east one shows Jóhannes's work, whilst the west hall is dedicated to visiting temporary
exhibitions. Although it may take a while for his style to grow on you, it's certainly
worth dropping by.
Hið Íslenzka Reðasafn
Laugavegur 116 • Daily 10am-6pm • 1000kr •
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phallus.is.
Undoubtedly the most offbeat museum in the whole of Iceland, Reykjavík's
Hið Íslenzka
Reðasafn
(Phallological Museum) is easy to spot opposite the bus station at Hlemmur
- there's often a group of bemused tourists standing outside the front door not quite
believing that this, indeed, is a museum dedicated to the penis. Around three hyndred
specimens are displayed in jars of formaldehyde and alcohol, from the sizeable member
that once belonged to a young male blue whale (now hollowed out, salted, dried and
placed on a wooden plaque) to that of a rogue polar bear found drifting on pack ice
off the West Fjords, shot by Icelandic fishermen and then unceremoniously butchered.
