DOI issue:
No. 361 (April 1923)
DOI article:Cowl, Richard P.: Einar Jónsson: Icelandic sculptor
DOI Page / Citation link: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.21397#0222
EINAR JONSSON, ICELANDIC SCULPTOR
"NEW LIFE.” BY
EINAR JONSSON
(2) Icelandic and other studies ; (3) Alle-
gories or studies in symbolism; (4) Memorial
statues. To the first category belong many
early works, including Ymir and Audhumla
and Dawn. The latter work is powerful in
conception and remarkably virile in execu-
tion, and is, in a secondary sense, an allegory
of (spiritual) light and darkness. The second
category comprises Mother Nature, The
Hermit of the Atlantic, The Outlaw, The
Watcher, etc. Few of Jonsson’s later works
are specifically Icelandic in subject, though
he continues to introduce, even in late
works, characteristic features of Icelandic
nature, like the basalt formation, so
effectively used, for instance, in The
Pioneer, or Icelandic symbols, such as
Thor's hammer, so skilfully woven into
a decorative pattern in the beautiful relief
called The Birth of Psyche. The Outlaw tells
a story of poignant human interest with
202
stark realism, compelling dramatic power,
and the utmost picturesqueness of effect.
The motive of the composition is the old
superstitious belief, still prevalent in
Iceland, that the spirit of the dead will not
rest till the body has been laid in con-
secrated ground. A rude outlaw, always a
romantic and sympathetic figure inlcelandic
art and literature, has descended from the
mountains, which are shown, bleak and
desolate, as a painted background, and is
entering the hallowed garth of a lonely
church; he carries a burden on his
shoulders—the body of his dead wife—and
in his arms a child that nestles to his
bosom. The arrangement of the figures is
very effective ; the technical difficulties of
the composition have been overcome with
extraordinary skill. The tender refinement
of the lines of the woman’s figure is in
striking contrast with the rugged uncouth-
"NEW LIFE.” BY
EINAR JONSSON
(2) Icelandic and other studies ; (3) Alle-
gories or studies in symbolism; (4) Memorial
statues. To the first category belong many
early works, including Ymir and Audhumla
and Dawn. The latter work is powerful in
conception and remarkably virile in execu-
tion, and is, in a secondary sense, an allegory
of (spiritual) light and darkness. The second
category comprises Mother Nature, The
Hermit of the Atlantic, The Outlaw, The
Watcher, etc. Few of Jonsson’s later works
are specifically Icelandic in subject, though
he continues to introduce, even in late
works, characteristic features of Icelandic
nature, like the basalt formation, so
effectively used, for instance, in The
Pioneer, or Icelandic symbols, such as
Thor's hammer, so skilfully woven into
a decorative pattern in the beautiful relief
called The Birth of Psyche. The Outlaw tells
a story of poignant human interest with
202
stark realism, compelling dramatic power,
and the utmost picturesqueness of effect.
The motive of the composition is the old
superstitious belief, still prevalent in
Iceland, that the spirit of the dead will not
rest till the body has been laid in con-
secrated ground. A rude outlaw, always a
romantic and sympathetic figure inlcelandic
art and literature, has descended from the
mountains, which are shown, bleak and
desolate, as a painted background, and is
entering the hallowed garth of a lonely
church; he carries a burden on his
shoulders—the body of his dead wife—and
in his arms a child that nestles to his
bosom. The arrangement of the figures is
very effective ; the technical difficulties of
the composition have been overcome with
extraordinary skill. The tender refinement
of the lines of the woman’s figure is in
striking contrast with the rugged uncouth-