Júlíana Sveinsdóttir

Júlíana Sveinsdóttir (1889-1966) was one of Iceland's first woman painters and textile artists.

Sveinsdóttir spent much of her working life in Denmark, however her summers were spent in Iceland, and the country's landscapes were the principal subject of her paintings. [Audur Ólafsdóttir, 'Júlíana Sveinsdóttir', in Ólafur Kvaran and Karla Kristjánsdóttir (eds), "Confronting Nature: Icelandic Art of the 20th Century", National Gallery of Iceland, Reykjavík, 2001, p. 78.] Working in Copenhagen she created abstract rug designs of note. [Susan Day, "Art deco and modernist carpets", Chronicle Books, 2002, p. 173.] She is regarded as having been a significant innovator from the 1930s to the 1950s through her approach to the landscape subject and her colour palette. [Audur Ólafsdóttir, 'Júlíana Sveinsdóttir', in Ólafur Kvaran and Karla Kristjánsdóttir (eds), "Confronting Nature: Icelandic Art of the 20th Century", National Gallery of Iceland, Reykjavík, 2001, p. 78.]

Sveinsdóttir was one of a number of Icelandic artists the impersonation of whose work was the subject of a 2005 court case. [Myndstef, [http://www.myndstef.is/Apps/WebObjects/Myndstef.woa/wa/dp?id=1000222 "Forgeries"] , retrieved July 2007]

References

Reading

*Audur Ólafsdóttir, 'Júlíana Sveinsdóttir', in Ólafur Kvaran and Karla Kristjánsdóttir (eds), "Confronting Nature: Icelandic Art of the 20th Century", National Gallery of Iceland, Reykjavík, 2001, p. 78.
*Hrafnhildur Schram, Dagny Heiddal and Harpa Thórsdóttir, "Patterns of Land and Colour: Júlíana Sveinsdóttir", Listasafn Íslands, Reykjavík, 2003.