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The Icelandic sculptor Ásmundur Sveinsson (1893 - 1982) had studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Sweden.
He is one of the first artists in Iceland being internationally acclaimed for their works. The subjects of his sculptures were every day life and technical progress, but also mythical tales of his home country as for example in Sæmundur and the Seal which is situated in front of the main building of the University of Iceland in Reykjavík.
Generally, the artist believed in placing works of art not only in the hands of a small elite, but to make them accessible for a big public. Other works of Ásmundur Sveinsson are to be found on the hill Öskjuhlið near Perlan in Reykjavík or at the farm of Borg á Mýrum near Borgarnes. The abstract sculpture here is representing the saga hero Egill having his dead son in his arms. The title Sonartorrek is referring to a poem which Jónas Hallgrímsson wrote about this scene.
Sonartorrek.jpg
The former house of the artist in Laugardalur, Reykjavík, has been installed as a museum, called Ásmundarsafn. The house had been constructed in the 1930s depending on drawn-outs of the artist who was a fan of the Bauhaus style. The house is slightly remembering Le Corbusier and his chapel of Ronchamp. The sculpture garden near-by is open to public.