The Sigurjón Ólafsson Museum is a small museum located in a park-like area by the sea. It is within walking distance of the Reykjavik cruise port.
Sigurjon Olafsson was a successful sculptor born in Iceland in 1908. In 1928 he left Iceland to study at the Royal Danish Academy of Art where he won awards and prizes. After graduation, he worked in Europe until 1945 when he returned to Iceland. Olafsson was a pioneer in abstract art in Iceland. His works were often in the Brutalist style but he experimented with a variety of approaches and materials including clay, plaster, wood, metals, stone and concrete. He received numerous commissions and his work can be seen in Denmark, Sweden, Italy and the United States as well as in Iceland. Two years after his death in 1982, his widow Birgitta Spur decided to turn his former studio into a museum. To do this, she enlarged rooms to turn them into exhibition halls and created other facilities needed for a museum. It opened in 1988. In 1989, the private museum was converted into an independent cultural institution. Birgitta donated 80 of Sigurjon's sculptures as well as drawings, photos and papers to the institution. The museum came under the National Gallery of Iceland in 2012. This is not a large museum. Inside the building are two exhibition galleries. One is on the ground floor just beyond the entrance and the other is a smaller gallery atop the spiral staircase. Outside is a sculpture garden containing a number of Olaffson's works. The galleries are used to present temporary exhibitions. Some relate to Olaffson but other exhibitions present works by other artists. Most focus on abstract or modernistic art. For more information about visiting, see the National Gallery of Iceland website. |
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Places to see art - - Reykjavik - Iceland - - Sigurjon Olafsson Museum