ÞÓRARINN B. ÞORLÁKSSON The first lcelandic painting acquired by the National Gallery of lceland was Áning (The Rest) by Þórarinn B. Þorláksson. It was donated by several citizens of Reykja- vík in the year 1911, but Þórarinn had painted it in the summer of 1910. The painting would have been part of the 1911 exhibition mounted in the Technical College. This gift denotes a turning point in the history of the National Gallery and of lcelandic art. In 1885, at the age of 18, Þórarinn B. Þorláksson came to Reykjavík to learn bookbinding. In his home county he was known for his inclination towards drawing, a pastime considered unproductive and pointless in those days. As fate would have it, in the summer of the year he arrived in Reykjavík the first art exhibition to be held in lceland was mounted. Governor Bergur Thorberg had arranged a showing of paintings from the newly founded National Gallery of lceland in the old primary school. The Gallery’s founder, Björn Bjarnarson, was at that time sending the paintings home from Copenhagen where he founded the Gallery in 1884. The exhibition continued until the autumn of 1885 and Þórarinn undoubtedly saw these works, either at the exhibition or later in the House of Parliament where the public had direct access to them. These beautiful works, mostly by the most renown Danish artists of the time, were precisely what was needed to inspire an intelligent young man who had shown explicit tendencies towards creative drawing. It is not improbable that this was the spark which ignited his decision to venture into the world of art. After two years of learning bookbinding he completed his apprenticeship and for the next eight years he managed the bookbinding section of the Publishing House ísafold. During those years he visited Copenhagen for several months in order to study. There he had the opportunity to visit galleries and broaden his horizons. Þórarinn had some instruction in art in Reykjavík, during those years he was involved in the bookbinding business. This is borne out by his paintings completed during the years 1890-1895. These paintings were included in a retrospective exhibition of his works in the National Gallery in 1967. It is obvious from these oils that here is a great potential artistic talent, although the artist was virtually untrained. They also suggest that he had seen good works of art and absorbed the experience of trained painters. Most of these paintings show distinctly tones and influences from the Danish paintings in the National Gallery. However, one is of a very different nature - the one he entitled Austurstræti (East Street) painted in 1891. On examin- 35

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