Fly, Fly, Cloth

Ásgrímur Jónsson was a pioneer of Icelandic painting and among the first artists who were able to devote themselves fully to visual art and work professionally in Iceland at the beginning of the 20th century. He was a celebrated painter with an extraordinary sensitivity to the light of the Icelandic landscape, which he conveyed through both oil paintings and watercolours. Ásgrímur grew up listening to stories of spirits, elves, ghosts, and trolls, and folktales captivated him from early childhood through adulthood. They became a key source of inspiration in his artistic practice, and over the course of his career he created numerous works based on folktales—drawings, watercolours, and paintings. Ásgrímur was among the first, if not the very first, to work with Icelandic folktales. His folkloric images gained wide circulation in the early 20th century with the publication of the book Lesbók fyrir börn og unglinga (Reader for Children and Young People), illustrated with his works, through which many encountered this imaginative world for the first time.

The work Fly, Fly, Cloth refers to the folktale Una the Elf Woman. In a dreamlike yet mysterious landscape, the viewer sees an elf woman gliding through the air on a reddish-brown cloth, bound for the realm of the elves. The billowing folds of the fabric create a sense of movement and magic as the elf woman cuts through the air with her back turned to the viewer. She floats over a rugged landscape toward snow-white peaks, alluding to the noble and pure nature where the elves dwell, hidden from humankind. The elf woman is dressed in refined, colourful garments with a headdress reminiscent of a skautfald, referring to the ceremonial attire of earlier centuries, as she is on her way to a feast.

In this work, Ásgrímur conveys the climax of the story, drawing the viewer in so that the tension of the unexpected becomes all-encompassing. The image appears to the viewer as if seen through a telescope or an eye that is about to close—a mood Ásgrímur achieves by illuminating the distant mountains while darkening the sides of the picture plane, which close in on the motif. In this way, the viewer feels as though they are peering in—like an uninvited passenger on the elf woman’s flying cloth.