Ingálvur av Reyni
Encyclopedia
Ingálvur av Reyni was the most celebrated painter
of the Faroe Islands
during the last years.
Ingálvur av Reyni was born in Tórshavn
. He rebelled through his expressionism
against the epic content of his predecessors' art, and has opened up new paths in his painting. His art is characterised by a clear, French colourist tone, and his artistic roots go back to Paul Cézanne
and Henri Matisse
.
The powerful nature of the Faroes, which makes an immediate visual impact on any painter, is the all-embracing theme in Reyni's art. But he experiences nature from the inside, as structures, tones, and fragments of a universe offering opportunities for graphical treatment of form and movement, light colours and rhythms. The expressions of nature become the basis of an increasingly abstract idiom.
The light fills his landscapes, interiors and figure paintings from the 1940s and 1950s, where he characteristically simplifies the motif in cubist
style. The lines and forms of nature contribute to the strict, cubist-inspired composition of the picture, or they are subjected to it. The composition is free of all unnecessary elements, and the work becomes at the same time a picture of both the inner and the outer reality. Increasingly contrasting colours are set against each other, until the culmination at the end of the 1950s with the bold counterplay of complementary colours.
A solo exhibition in Tórshavn in 1961 broke new ground, showing for the first time a directly abstract perception of nature. The paintings had titles such as Kurpali (chaos, disorder) and Sjón í fuglaeyga (view through a bird's eye) This exhibition did not herald an instant conversion to non-figurative art – in the 1960s and well into the 1970s Ingálvur av Reyni treated landscape motifs as never before, although in a highly abstract way, especially the central theme of the village by the sea. His palettes vary from clear, powerful and glowing colours through a delicate greyish, anything but dry spectrum to the deep black register.
A series of works from the 1970s are abstractions of groups of figures and have titles such as girl or people by the sea, as can be seen in a trilogy owned by the art museum. In most recent years Ingálvur av Reyni has chiefly been an abstract painter, if this expression can apply to non-figurative art which is based on nature's own tones and structures. In his strongly painted, usually large and resolute compositions, the work breaks out from the inside. Warm earth tones glow from the deepest layers, sizzle when they touch cold, grey areas, and set light to others. The drama lies in the conflict of the colours and the dynamic movements of the brushstrokes. From time to time the rhythm is further emphasised by scratches made with the handle of the brush in the thick, varnish-like layers of shiny colour. This is tangible painting.
Ingálvur av Reyni was a superb draughtsman. The town with its houses round the harbour, the ships and the boats and the people walking in the streets – especially the older townsfolk – are favourite subjects. He has an impressive ability to capture an expression in a single concentrated stroke. And his many journeys to the cradles of European art have also led to drawings of figures and groups in teeming crowds, or of interiors and street scenes. The drawings show a pronounced artistic sense for sharp characteristics. But even though these drawings in the cases mentioned are more figurative or narrative than the paintings, their themes are still subject to the strict conditions of the line and its enclosing form. On many occasions he has also produced non-figurative drawings.
Reyni died at the age of 84 in 2005 in his hometown Tórshavn.
feature Reyni's work:
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
of the Faroe Islands
Faroe Islands
The Faroe Islands are an island group situated between the Norwegian Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, approximately halfway between Scotland and Iceland. The Faroe Islands are a self-governing territory within the Kingdom of Denmark, along with Denmark proper and Greenland...
during the last years.
Ingálvur av Reyni was born in Tórshavn
Tórshavn
Tórshavn is the capital and largest town of the Faroe Islands. It is located in the southern part on the east coast of Streymoy. To the north west of the town lies the high mountain Húsareyn, and to the southwest, the high Kirkjubøreyn...
. He rebelled through his expressionism
Expressionism
Expressionism was a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Germany at the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it radically for emotional effect in order to evoke moods or ideas...
against the epic content of his predecessors' art, and has opened up new paths in his painting. His art is characterised by a clear, French colourist tone, and his artistic roots go back to Paul Cézanne
Paul Cézanne
Paul Cézanne was a French artist and Post-Impressionist painter whose work laid the foundations of the transition from the 19th century conception of artistic endeavour to a new and radically different world of art in the 20th century. Cézanne can be said to form the bridge between late 19th...
and Henri Matisse
Henri Matisse
Henri Matisse was a French artist, known for his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a draughtsman, printmaker, and sculptor, but is known primarily as a painter...
.
The powerful nature of the Faroes, which makes an immediate visual impact on any painter, is the all-embracing theme in Reyni's art. But he experiences nature from the inside, as structures, tones, and fragments of a universe offering opportunities for graphical treatment of form and movement, light colours and rhythms. The expressions of nature become the basis of an increasingly abstract idiom.
The light fills his landscapes, interiors and figure paintings from the 1940s and 1950s, where he characteristically simplifies the motif in cubist
Cubism
Cubism was a 20th century avant-garde art movement, pioneered by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque, that revolutionized European painting and sculpture, and inspired related movements in music, literature and architecture...
style. The lines and forms of nature contribute to the strict, cubist-inspired composition of the picture, or they are subjected to it. The composition is free of all unnecessary elements, and the work becomes at the same time a picture of both the inner and the outer reality. Increasingly contrasting colours are set against each other, until the culmination at the end of the 1950s with the bold counterplay of complementary colours.
A solo exhibition in Tórshavn in 1961 broke new ground, showing for the first time a directly abstract perception of nature. The paintings had titles such as Kurpali (chaos, disorder) and Sjón í fuglaeyga (view through a bird's eye) This exhibition did not herald an instant conversion to non-figurative art – in the 1960s and well into the 1970s Ingálvur av Reyni treated landscape motifs as never before, although in a highly abstract way, especially the central theme of the village by the sea. His palettes vary from clear, powerful and glowing colours through a delicate greyish, anything but dry spectrum to the deep black register.
A series of works from the 1970s are abstractions of groups of figures and have titles such as girl or people by the sea, as can be seen in a trilogy owned by the art museum. In most recent years Ingálvur av Reyni has chiefly been an abstract painter, if this expression can apply to non-figurative art which is based on nature's own tones and structures. In his strongly painted, usually large and resolute compositions, the work breaks out from the inside. Warm earth tones glow from the deepest layers, sizzle when they touch cold, grey areas, and set light to others. The drama lies in the conflict of the colours and the dynamic movements of the brushstrokes. From time to time the rhythm is further emphasised by scratches made with the handle of the brush in the thick, varnish-like layers of shiny colour. This is tangible painting.
Ingálvur av Reyni was a superb draughtsman. The town with its houses round the harbour, the ships and the boats and the people walking in the streets – especially the older townsfolk – are favourite subjects. He has an impressive ability to capture an expression in a single concentrated stroke. And his many journeys to the cradles of European art have also led to drawings of figures and groups in teeming crowds, or of interiors and street scenes. The drawings show a pronounced artistic sense for sharp characteristics. But even though these drawings in the cases mentioned are more figurative or narrative than the paintings, their themes are still subject to the strict conditions of the line and its enclosing form. On many occasions he has also produced non-figurative drawings.
Reyni died at the age of 84 in 2005 in his hometown Tórshavn.
Gallery of stamps
The following Faroese stamps from Postverk FøroyaPostverk Føroya
Posta is the postal service of the Faroe Islands and was founded on 1 April 1976 under the Home Rule of the Faroe Islands. On 16 December 2005, it became a public joint stock company under the name P/F Postverk Føroya ....
feature Reyni's work:
External links
- FaroeArtStamps.fo - Ingálvur av Reyni (source, public domain)
- Art.fo - Ingálvur av Reyni (The Faroe Islands Art Museum)