Einar Hákon­ar­son: The Pulse of Time

The exhibition is curated by Ingiberg Magnússon. Ever since he returned to Iceland after art studies at the Valand Academy in Göteborg, Sweden, Einar has been a prolific artist and shown his work regularly, while also teaching art and contributing to public debate on current affairs and the place of the arts in society. In addition he has served as principal of the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts (forerunner of the Iceland Academy of the Arts), and director of Kjarvalsstaðir, Reykjavík Art Museum.

Painter/human in the foreground
At Einar Hákonarson’s first one-man show at the National Museum of Iceland in 1968, it was clear that a new tone was being struck in Icelandic art. The human figure had taken its place in the foreground of the works, after a lengthy absence from the canvas. The works were in the Expressionist mode, influenced by the European Pop Art of the time.

And Einar had clearly learned from Expressionist painter Francis Bacon, one of the most avant-garde artists of the era.

Einar’s paintings were characterised by well-thought-out composition and powerful drawing; the human form was juxtaposed and contrasted with the manmade environment. It is interesting to consider the role of the human beings in Einar’s art at that time: at a casual glance their purpose seems to be primarily one of form – to contrast rounded organic forms with hard, angular ones, thus achieving a classic tension within the picture plane. In that classic approach the artist is uncompromising in his standards of composition and other classic features. The 1960s were a period of turmoil. Armed conflicts around the globe attracted criticism and protest as never before, while the news media instantly brought the reality of the battlefield into every home, awakening exigent moral questions. It would only be natural for a young artist, seeking a place for himself in art, to see it as humbug to exclude the human being – the focus and the victim in contemporary events – from his work. Einar’s works of this period thus give a true reflection of the thinking of that generation – unsure of the future, and desperately seeking a foothold. Einar’s colour palette was judged by some to be too easy and limited at that time, and he was urged to be more adventurous. No doubt it is true that he was over-cautious in his use of colour, as transpired later when he turned his attention to these aspects of his paintings, and his work became more expressive and incisive. It is impossible to say whether it was due to Einar’s influence, or simply a matter of the Zeitgeist – which tends to be the crucial factor in artistic evolution – but before long similar approaches began to be seen in the work of other Icelandic artists, even including older, abstract, painters.

The early 1980s saw major changes in Einar’s art, which have continued ever since. His controlled, disciplined drawing gave way to expressive, powerful brushwork. His palette also became more audacious and provocative. Clearly, the artist had more to say than ever before, and his technique and style were effective in putting across the potent emotions that lay beneath. The art he has made in recent decades is uncompromising, and laden with meaning and narrative content. Since the turn of the century there has been a growing element of social polemicism in his work – direct and unflinching. The finger on the pulse of time is more sensitive; and confrontation with the past years of turmoil is now placed front and centre, forthright and razor-sharp. Based on text by curator Ingiberg Magnússon.

Programme: 

Sundays 25 January, 15 February
and 15 March at 3 p.m.
Gallery talk with Einar Hákonarson artist and Ingiberg Magnússon curator about the exhibition Pulse of Time..