Hafmey
Guðmundur Einarsson from Miðdalur in Mosfellssveit (1895-1963) was an Icelandic artist who was a draftsman, graphic artist, painter, sculptor, filmmaker, writer, and mountaineer. He was most often called Guðmundur from Miðdalur and is considered one of the most important artists in Iceland. In 1926 he moved to Iceland from Germany with his first wife Therese Zeitner, a model and artist. Therese was seven years older than Guðmundur. She had one daughter with the chemist Paul Sternberg in Munich in 1911, but they had never gotten married. Three years after the couple arrived in Iceland Therese's daughter Lydia, who had just completed her studies in pottery, moved to Iceland to live with her mother and Guðmundur. Shortly after, Lydia and Guðmundur began a romantic relationship. Guðmundur and Theresa eventually divorced, but she lived more or less with Guðmundur and Lydia until her death. Guðmundur and Lydia later married and had four children; their love affair was controversial but lasted until the end of his life. Guðmundur legacy includes thousands of works: oil paintings, sculptures, glass works, watercolors, graphics, ceramics (in which he was a pioneer), drawings, furniture (that he designed), jewelry, copper and silver objects, gardens, houses, wall decorations, books, photographs and films. He was a pioneer of mountaineering, an explorer, an active conservationist and a forester.
My interest in this fascinating artist was kindled when I saw, on the grounds of Vesturbæjarlaug, a statue of a woman embracing a fish (shown below). It isn’t featured on most maps of public sculpture in Reykjavík, perhaps the erotic nature of the piece (along with Guðmundur’s notorious reputation) has led to its current exile in the residential district of Melar. His smaller ceramic pieces are popular with collectors, he and Lydia were instrumental in promoting ceramic arts in Iceland, Listvinahúsið is descended from a gallery established there in the 1930s.
Portrait by Willem van de Poll, 1934
