Nina Tryggvadottir
Biography:
A SHORT BIOGRAPHY
1913 Born March 16 in Seydisfjordur, Iceland
1920 Moves with family to Reykjavik
1927 Studies painting with Icelandic painter Asgrimur Jonsson
1933-35 Studies painting with Icelandic artists Finnur Jonsson and Johann Briem
1935-39 Studies at the Royal Academy of Art, Copenhagen
1937 First exhibition at Charlottenborg, Copenhagen
1939 Moves to Paris for a year
1942 First one-person exhibition, in Reykjavik, Iceland
1943-44 Moves to New York, shares apartment and studio with her friend painter Louisa Matthiasdotttir.
Studies with Ferdinand Leger where she meets and befriends sculptor Louise Bourgeois.
Becomes part of the New York School
1945 One person show at The New Art Circle – J.B. Neuman Gallery, Fuller Building, New York, NY.
Designs sets and costumes for Stravinsky’s A Soldier’s Tale, conducted by Dimitri Mitropoulos
1948 One person show at The New Art Circle – J.B. Neuman Gallery, Fuller Building, New York, NY
1949 Marries artist Alcopley, moves to Charles Street
Tryggvadottir is unjustifiably deported to Iceland during the “Red Scare”
1952-57 Moves from Iceland to Paris, France with Alcopley and year old daughter Una Dora
Lives and works in Paris. Has many exhibitions in France and Europe. She befriends Jean Arp,
Mark Tobey, Sonia Delauney, Julius Bissier, Pierre Soulage, Yves Klein, among other notable artists
1957-59 Moves to London with her family where she lives and continues to exhibit extensively in London and Europe
1959-68 After years of trying to return to New York, US State Department sends her a telegram saying she
can return. Tryggvadottir and family return to New York and rent a loft on Great Jones Street
Resumes friendships with New York School artists including Bill and Elaine deKooning, Barnett
Newman, Ad Reinhardt, Mark Rothko, Milton Resnick, Ibram and Ernestine Lassaw, and with
Hannah Arendt, Edgard and Louise Varese, Frederick Kiesler, Phil Guston, among many others
Exhibits in group and solo shows yearly in Reykjavik, New York, and in Europe
1968 Dies June 18 in New York
Nina Tryggvadottir was born in 1913 in Seyðisfjörður, on the East coast of Iceland, where she was raised before moving to Reykjavik with her parents. Tryggvadottir was interested in art from an early age and would take art lessons from her uncle, the landscape painter Ásgrímur Jónsson. In 1935 Tryggvadottir went to Copenhagen to study at the Royal Danish Academy of Art, following which, she lived in Paris. After returning to Iceland at the outbreak of WWII, she went to study in New York on a stipend from the Icelandic State. There, she studied under Morris Kantor, Hans Hoffman and Fernand Leger, and exhibited at the prestigious New Art Circle Gallery run by JB Neumann. She was asked to create stage sets and costumes for a staging of the famous ballet, Soldier’s Tale, by Igor Stravinsky and CF Ramus. After being banned from the US under McCarthyism, Tryggvadottir lived in Paris, where she exhibited at the Musée d’Art Moderne and London, where she showed works at the Institute of Contemporary Arts and also presented numerous solo exhibitions at galleries throughout Europe. She was permitted to move back to NY in 1959 where she lived and worked until the end of her life in 1968.
Tryggvadottir has exhibited internationally and her work resides in numerous private and public collections throughout Europe, Japan, and the United States, including: the Museum of Modern Art, NY; Musee National d’Art Moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou, France; The National Gallery of Iceland; The Reykjavik Municipal Art Gallery, Iceland; and Musee D’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, France.
Résumé:
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2015-16“Nina Tryggvadottir: Poetcast” The National Gallery of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland
2014 “Nina Tryggvadottir: A Retrospective” David Findlay Jr Gallery, New York, NY, USA
2012 “Nina Tryggvadottir: Paris 1952” David Findlay Jr Gallery, New York, NY, USA
2007 “Nina Tryggvadottir: Works from the 1950s and 60s” David Findlay Jr Gallery, New York, NY, USA
1998 Sigurjon Olafsson Museum, Reykjavik, Iceland
1996 National Gallery of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland
Nordic House, Reykjavik, Iceland
1995 National Gallery of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland
1988 Nyhofn Gallery, Reykjavik, Iceland
1982 ASI Museum, Reykjavik, Iceland
1974 National Gallery of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland
1967 National Museum of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland
1963 Galleri KB, Oslo, Norway
Galerie Parnass, Wuppertal, Germany
1961 Rose Fried Gallery, NY, USA
1959 Drian Gallery, London, UK
1958 Galerie La Roue, Paris, France
Galerie Parnass, Wuppertal, Germany
Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA), London, UK
1957 “Stained Glass Paintings” Galerie Arnaud, Paris, France
“Cabinet d”Art Graphique de Nina Tryggvadottir” Galerie Saint Laurent, Bruxelles, Belgium
1956 “Stained Glass Paintings” National Library of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland
1955 Oslo Kunstforening, Oslo, Norway
Galerie d’Aujourd’hui, Palais des Beaux Arts, Bruxelles, Belgium
Gallerie Birch, Copenhagen, Denmark
1954 “Collages” Galerie Arnaud, Paris, France
1948 The New Art Circle - J.B. Neuman Gallery, NY, USA
1945 The New Art Circle - J.B. Neuman Gallery, NY, USA
1942 Unuhus, Reykjavik, Iceland
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2009 “From Unuhus to 8th Street” Reykjavik Art Museum, Iceland
“Women of the Spirit” Arnesinga Museum, Hveragerdi, Iceland
2006-14 David Findlay Jr Gallery, New York, NY, USA
2005 “American Abstractionists. Part 2” David Findlay Jr Fine Art, New York, NY, USA
2004 “Icelandic Art” Charlottenborg, Copenhagen, Denmark
2003 “Modern American Art 1930-1975” Gary Snyder Fine Art, New York, NY, USA
2002 “500 Works on Paper 1922 –2002” Gary Snyder Fine Art, New York, NY, USA
“Man & City” Reykjavik Municipal Art Museum, Iceland
2001 “Abstract Expressionism: Expanding the Canon” Gary Snyder Fine Art, New York, NY, USA
“Confronting Nature” Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington D.C., USA
1998 “Icelandic Painting of the 20th Century” Hong Kong Museum of Art, China
1990 Icelandic Festival for the Arts, National Museum of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland
“Icelandic Art” Travelling exhibition: Cologne, Dusseldorf, Duisburg, Brul and Pulheim, Germany
1987-88 “Nordic konkretlist 1907-1960” Amos Andersons Konstmuseum, Helsinki, Finland
1987 “Icelandic Abstract Art” Reykjavik Municipal Art Museum, Reykjavik, Iceland
1986 “Fifty Years of Painting in Iceland 1936-1986”Travelling exhibition: Saint Malo, Rochefort & Paris, France
“Another Landscape” Nordisk Konstcentrum, Helsinki, Finland
1985 “Icelandic Women Artists 1888-1930” National Gallery of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland
1981 “Det Staerke Lys” Mostings Hus, Copenhagen, Denmark
1979 “La Donation Seuphor” Musee National d’Art Moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France
“Icelandic Art 1944-1979” Minnesota Museum of Art, Minneapolis, USA
1974 “1100 years of Icelandic Art” Reykjavik Municipal Art Museum, Iceland
“Islandsk Kunst” Sammenslutningen af Danske Kunstforeninger, Copenhagen, Denmark
1971 “Selection of Artists from the Drian Gallery”, Drian Gallery, London, UK
1966 “Five Icelandic Painters” Drian Gallery, London, UK
“Drian Gallery Artists, 1966” Drian Gallery, London, UK
1963 “Nina Tryggvadottir and Alcopley” Kaare Berntsen Gallery, Oslo, Norway
1961 “Painting and Sculpture Acquisitions” The Museum of Modern Art, NY, USA
1958 Lords Gallery, London, UK
“The Women’s International Art Club” Whitechapel Gallery, London, UK
“Contemporary Scandinavian Painting” Galerie Raymond Creuze, Paris, France
1957 Stedelijk Museum, Sciedam, The Netherlands
“50 Years of Abstract Art” Galerie Raymond Creuze, Paris, France
“XII Salon des Realites Nouvelles’ Musee des Beaux Arts de la Ville de Paris, France
“Nordic Art 1947-1957” Goteborgs Konstmuseum, Goteborg, Sweden
1956 “Collages” Rose Fried Gallery, NY, USA
Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
XI Salon des Realites Nouvelles, Musee d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris” Paris, France
“Divergences 4” Galerie Arnaud, Paris, France
“Comparaisons” Musee d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, France
“Premiere Exposition Internationale de l’Art Plastique Contemporain” Musee des Beaux Arts
de la Ville de Paris, France
1955 “Divergences 3” Galerie Arnaud, Paris, France
“Icelandic Art” Pallazzo delle Esposizioni, Rome, Italy
“Modern Icelandic Painters” Galerie De Unga, Stockholm, Sweden
“Comparaisons” Musee d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, France
“Artistes etrangers en France, 1955” Petit Palais, Paris, France
“Exhibition of Stained Glass Windows and a Mural” Groupe Espace, Paris, France
“X Salon des Realites Nouvelles” Musee d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, France
1954 “Icelandic Art” Radhus, Copenhagen, Denmark
1953 “Un Ensemble Abstrait International” Galerie di Segni, Nice, France
1952 “September Group” National Museum of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland
“Icelandic Art” Palais des Beaux Arts, Bruxelles, Belgium
1951 “Inaugural Exhibition” The National Gallery of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland
“Icelandic Art” Kunstnerenes Hus, Olso, Norway
1950 “Nordic Art” Taidenhalli-Athenu-Konsthallen, Helsinki, Finland
1947 “September Group” National Museum of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland
“Nordic Art 1946-1947” Liljevalchs Konsthall, Stockholm, Sweden
1938 “Akademielevers Udstilling af Sommerarbejder, Charlottenborg, Copenhagen, Denmark
1937 “Icelandic Art” Charlottenborg, Copenhagen, Denmark
SELECTED MUSEUM COLLECTIONS
Tryggvadottir is in numerous private and public collections throughout Europe, USA & Japan including:
The Museum of Modern Art, NY, USA
Musee National d’Art Moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou, France
The National Gallery of Iceland
The Reykjavik Municipal Art Gallery, Iceland
Musee D’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, France
PUBLIC WORKS
14 abstract stained glass windows; installed at the Church of St. Anthony, Langweiler, Germany
3 stained glass windows spanning 3 floors commissioned by the National Museum of Iceland, Reykjavik
Mosaic altarpiece for the Cathedral Seat at Skalholt, Iceland,
3 storey outdoor mosaic mural is installed at Hotel Loftleidir, Reykjavik Airport
Mosaic mural in the main branch of the National Bank of Iceland, Reykjavik
Mosaic mural is installed at Icelandic Air, Kennedy Airport, New York
BIBLIOGRAPHY*
Barr, Alfred H., Jr. Painting and Sculpture Acquisitions. January to December 1961. The Museum of Modern Art
Bulletin, 29, No. 1-2. NY, 1962
Blakeston, Oswell. Iceland and Ibiza. Art News, March 1, 1958
Boudaille, Georges. Tryggvadottir. Le Monde. March 7, 1957
Boiudaille, Georges. L’Art Nordique – A Paris. Les Lettres Francaises, May 22-28, 1958
Campbell, Lawrence. Nina Tryggvadottir. Craft Horizons, 22, No.6. NY 1962
Dictionary of Women Artists. Ed. Delia Gaze. Fitzroy Dearborn, London & Chicago, 1977.
Vol. 2, pp. 1375-1377
Farr, Dennis. Recent Paintings and Stained Glass. The Burlington Magazine, June 1959
Hagen, Yvonne. Art and Artists. New York Herald – Paris, June 15, 1955
Hodin, J.P. Nina Tryggvadottir. Quadrum 6. Bruxelles, 1959
Hodin, J.P. Portrait of the Artist Nina Tryggvadottir. Art News & Review, 11, No. 8, 1959
Johansen, Soren Steen. Tryggvadottir og Alcopley. Verdens Gang, March 21, 1963
Johnson, W.E. Modern Icelandic Painters at Newcastle-Upon-Tyne. Guardian, October 26, 1965
Langsner, Jules. Nina Tryggvadottir and Alcopley. Galleri Kaare Berntsen, Oslo, Norway. 1963
Laxness, H., Seuphor, M., & Schram, H. Nina Tryggvadottir. Serenity and Power. Iceland Review, Reykjavik, 1982
Matthey, Francois. Vitraux de Tryggvadottir. Galerie La Roue, Paris, 1958
Phaidon Dictionary of 20th Century Art. Phaidon Press, Ltd. Oxford & NY, 1973
Seuphor, Michel. Abstract Painting: Fifty Years of Accomplishment, From Kandinsky to the Present.
Harry N. Abrams. NY, 1962
Seuphor, Michel. Dictionaire de la Peinture Abstraite. Paris, 1957
Seringhaus, Will. Nach Hundert Parnass-Asstellungen General Anzeiger, November 10, 1958
Seringhaus, Will. Vier Kunstausstellungen in Wuppertal, gemalde von Alcopley, Tryggvadottir, Zang und
Edith Sommer. General Anzieger, November 22, 1963
Thwaites, John Anthony. Maler und Malerin, Alcopley und Nina Tryggvadottir in der Wuppertaler Galerie Parnass
Deutsche Zeitung und Wirtschaltszeitung, November 25, 1963
Tryggvadottir, Nina. Painting with Light Through Colored Glass. Leonardo, 1968. Vol. 1, pp. 125-135
Van Nerom, Robert. Nina Tryggvadottir. Beaux-Arts Bruxexlles, January 31, 1955
Vilhjalmsson, Thor. Nina Tryggvadottir. The American Scandinavian Review, 61, No.3, 1961
Vilhjalmsson, Thor. Nina Tryggvadottir. Nyhofn Gallery, Reykjavik, Iceland, 1988