Iceland Newsletter

Our Iceland newsletter comes directly from Petur H. Armannsson, Curator of Architecture at the Reykjavik Art Museum.

The Asmundur Sveinsson Sculpture Museum
Sigtœn, Reykjavik
1942-59
Asmundur Sveinsson, sculptor
Einar Sveinsson, architect
Renovation and extension 1987-91:
Manfred Vilhjelmsson, architect

The Asmundur Sveinsson Sculpture Museum is dedicated to the sculptures and drawings of the artist Asmundur Sveinsson (1893-1982). The building is the former home of the artist, mostly designed and built by himself.
It was built in several stages, the first part was a simple cube with an apartment on the main floor and a studio in a concrete dome on top. The form shows influences from Greek and Turkish architecture, which the artist saw as the model for a new Icelandic architecture tailored to the distinctive features of the barren, treeless landscape. In 1946, Sveinsson added a single-floor studio facing the street. As before, he sought his prototypes in Mediterranean architecture, this time in the style of an Egyptian sepulchre. Few years later, a separate crescent-shaped gallery building was constructed on the southern side of the Dome.

After Sveinsson’s death, the buildings were made into a museum of his work and a new exhibition room was added to make a connection between the gallery and the house.

The Asmundur Sveinsson Museum is open
May-September between 10-16 and
October-April between 13-16.