Grandmother, Tell Me a Story

Tryggvi Magnússon was born at the turn of the century in 1900, at a time when Iceland’s struggle for independence was at its height. Tryggvi was a versatile artist and a skilled draftsman. He is regarded as a pioneer of graphic design in Iceland. Tryggvi studied fine art in the United States and later in Dresden, Germany, where he became acquainted with satirical magazines and illustrators who had a great influence on him. In 1926, Tryggvi founded the immensely popular satirical magazine Spegillinn, for which he also provided illustrations. As a young man, he supported himself as an illustrator and designed countless logos and advertisements, including the guardian spirits (landvættir) on Iceland’s coat of arms (1944). Tryggvi illustrated numerous books, the most famous without a doubt being the poetry booklet Jólin koma (Christmas Is Coming) by Jóhannes úr Kötlum from 1932. In it, he depicted the Icelandic Yule Lads in a lively and imaginative manner. Since then, the book has held an important place in the Christmas preparations of Icelandic children.

Despite Tryggvi’s great success as an illustrator, he harbored ambitious dreams of becoming a painter. The painting Grandmother, Tell Me a Story was exhibited by Tryggvi at an exhibition in Góðtemplarahúsið in 1930, where the subject matter of all the works was based on Icelandic folktales. Tryggvi’s drawing skills are clearly evident in this oil painting, which is executed with great precision. In the foreground stands an elderly woman facing two children. We see the children from behind, but the woman from the front; she may be their grandmother. Perhaps she is telling them a story about the Yule Cat, as on the right a magnified shadow image of a white cat can be seen standing on a chest to the left of them. The grandmother, the children, and the cat are gathered by the hearth, and a red glow from the fire illuminates the scene. The mysterious light creates a fairytale-like atmosphere and reminds us of the power of storytelling and Icelandic folktales. In the background is a kitchen in a traditional turf house, where people once passed the evenings telling one another stories in the twilight.