SNAEFELL PAINTED BY ASGRIMUR JONSSON

 

ASGRIMUR JONSSON (1876-1958)
Snæfell or Snæfellsjökull (1,446 m - 4,744 ft)
Iceland

The mountain
Snæfell or Snæfellsjökull (1,446 m - 4,744 ft) (meaning snow-fell glacier) is a 700,000-year-old glacier-capped stratovolcano in western Iceland. The name of the mountain is actually Snæfell, but it is normally called "Snæfellsjökull" to distinguish it from two other mountains with this name. It is situated on the most western part of the Snæfellsnes peninsula in Iceland. Sometimes it may be seen from the city of Reykjavík over Faxa Bay, at a distance of 120 km.
The mountain is one of the most famous sites of Iceland, primarily due to the novel Journey to the Center of the Earth (1864) by Jules Verne, in which the protagonists find the entrance to a passage leading to the center of the earth on Snæfellsjökull. The mountain is included in the Snæfellsjökull National Park (Icelandic: Þjóðgarðurinn Snæfellsjökull).
In August 2012 the summit was ice-free for the first time in recorded history.

The painter
Asgrímur Jónsson was an Icelandic painter, and one of the first in the country to make art a professional living. He studied at the Royal Academy in Copenhagen between 1900 and 1903 and traveled widely after graduation. The subjects of his pictures are mostly the landscapes of his home country, particularly mountains. His painting style is similar to the French impressionists like Corot. Some of his pictures also illustrate Icelandic sagas and folk tales.
He was also noted for his murals in various churches in Iceland. A number of his works are on display in the National Gallery of Iceland. Jónsson influenced many artists in Iceland. A short time before he died he had donated his house in Reykjavík to the Icelandic Government along with all those paintings which were at that time in his possession. These consisted of 192 oil paintings and 277 water colours together with a great number of unfinished pictures dating from various periods in his life. During his lifetime Ásgrímur Jónsson was honoured in many ways. He was made honorary professor at the University of Iceland and, in 1933 he was made Grand Knight of the Icelandic Order of the Falcon. He was an honorary member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Arts and Knight of Dannebrog, first class. He died in 1958 and was buried in Gaulverjabær.

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2020 - Wandering Vertexes...
by Francis Rousseau