5 Painters from Faroe Islands You Should Know

1. Sámal Joensen-Mikines – Leading Faroese Painting into Modernity

In 1906 on the island of Mykines, known today for its large puffin nesting grounds, the artist was born under the name Sámal Joensen. His life was filled with death and sorrow as tuberculosis raged. Early on he lost his father and two sisters to the disease. He himself was not blessed with strength and health, a fact that made it impossible for him to work at sea. Inspired by a Swedish painter that visited the island he wanted to become a painter himself. Together with the artists William Heinesen and Jákup Olsen, he organized the Faroes’ first art exhibition in Tórshavn. In 1928 he traveled to Copenhagen to study at the Academy of Fine Arts.

Keywords to describe Mikines’ style are: epic, expressive, and coloristic. He was inspired by Edvard Munch, Eugène Delacroix, and El Greco. His motifs however are traditionally Faroese, depicting the whale hunt, the chain dance, and fishing smacks among other things.

2. Jóannis Kristiansen – Impressionism the Faroese Way

3. Ingálvur av Reyni – A Pioneer in Abstract Painting

Born in 1920, Ingálvur av Reyni is one of the most important Faroese painters of the 20th century. Famous for his abstractions and unconventional painting techniques, he soon left his Danish teacher’s colorist style behind. He exchanged the traditional ways with a more internationally oriented expression. Like his contemporaries, he was inspired by the landscape and culture of the islands. As a youngster, he worked as a fisherman. Therefore it is not surprising that shapes present on boats can be found even decades later in some of his paintings.

In his opinion, it was of utter importance that a painting be dominated by a main color on which the eye of the observer could rest. Ingálvur av Reyni’s artistic work sometimes gets put in a context with Paul Cézanne and Henri Matisse. Most impressive are av Reyni’s brushstrokes which are very dynamic and rhythmic.

4. Hans Hansen – The Fisherman Who Became a Painter

Hans Hansen, also known as Hans í Mikladali, belonged to the same generation of artists as Ingálvur av Reyni – still he is lesser known especially outside of the Faroe Islands. When he was a teenager he went out to sea, then he completed an apprenticeship as a house painter. An encounter with Johannes Kjarval‘s art in Iceland inspired him to go to Copenhagen to study drawing and painting as well as frescoing. Afterwards, he moved back to the islands. There he settled in Tórshavn, but the landscape and houses of his village of origin Mikladalur on Kalsoy stayed present in his work.

His landscapes and portraits are famous for their clear form, purity, and luminosity of color. They also have a personal lyrical tone. Thus looking out for Hans Hansen’s work when exploring painters from Faroe Islands is definitely a treat you shouldn’t miss.

5. Steffan Danielsen – An Isolated Artist with Raw Spontaneity

Steffan Danielsen was, in contrast to his colleagues, an autodidact. He never studied art, instead he was self-taught. He loved painting his home-island Nólsoy in maverick ways. His perspectives of this island range from a boat on the sea, from an inaccessible rocky outcrop, or from his kitchen window. He portrayed his homestead in any light, in sun and rain, snow and fog. His work always kept a native and genuine expression favoring the color grey, meanwhile carefully playing with nature’s hues. Danielsen was only active for 24 years as a painter as he was in poor health.