Kjarvalsstaðir - Art Museum of Iceland's Painter

Jóhannes Kjarval lived from 1885 - 1972 and is Iceland's best loved painter.  A museum for him stands in Reykjavik, easily accessible by bus such as bus 13 (and perhaps other buses too) which has a stop exactly at Kjarvalsstaðir.

Here are some of the paintings that I enjoyed.

Kjarval's theme is nature, particularly the nature of Iceland as he traveled around his homeland for his paintings.

He wanted to share his vision of nature through his works.

I would say that his works have an element of fantasy.

The last painting is called Birthday Flowers.

There is another ongoing exhibit at the same museum called Calm from Louisa Matthíasdóttir.

Her works were in a close time period as Kjarval, as I remember such as in the 1940s.

Her style seems to be done more simply, but with brighter colours which make them more striking.  To me, they are pictures of ordinary every day life in full colour.

One anecdote I can share is that according to my husband there is a house that was built for Kjarval to live in. However he never did choose to live in it. Until today it stands in Seltjarnarnes overlooking the Atlantic ocean.