The Icelandic nation's treasures in art

The exhibition “Treasures of a Nation” will open in the National Gallery of Iceland this Friday. There you can indeed see Iceland’s treasures. The development of the Icelandic art scene from the 19^th century to today.  

In the collection of the National Gallery of Iceland there are over eleven thousand works of various kinds, from various countries and from various periods.

In the exhibition Treasures of a Nation a fair selection of works from the collection displays the evolution of art in Iceland from the early nineteenth century to our times. The exhibition features the variety of media and styles distinguishing this short but eventful history.

During the first decades, from 1884 to 1911, the collection was exclusively based on the generous donations of foreign artists, mostly Danish and other Scandinavians, but in the early 20th century Icelandic art became more prominent. Today only one of every ten works in the collection of the National Gallery is foreign despite the fact that foreign artists are still slightly more numerous than Icelandic artists.