Úr Kelduhverfi

As a youngster Sveinn Þórarinsson made the acquaintance of folk artist Sveinungi Sveinungason, and after that drawing became his passion. In 1919 he went to Reykjavík, where he received art lessons from painters Þórarinn B. Þorláksson and Ásgrímur Jónsson during one winter, after which he held his first exhibition in Húsavík, north Iceland. In 1921-22 he attended the private art school of Guðmundur Thorsteinsson (Muggur), and in 1925–28 he studied at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen, mostly learning painting under Ejnar Nielsen. On graduation he made a study trip to Paris, before returning to Iceland in the summer of 1929. Sveinn’s works exhibited some influence from the expressionism of the Danish school, while the dominant Icelandic trend for national romanticism was also clearly an influence. Sveinn painted a considerable number of landscapes, which are characterised by disciplined composition and sensitivity to colour. He also made many works inspired by the interaction of humans and nature, often finding models in the rural life of his home community in Þingeyjarsýsla in the north.