Þórarinn B. Þorláksson

Þórarinn Benedikt Þorláksson (February 14, 1867 – July 10, 1924) was one of Iceland's first contemporary painters, the first Icelander to exhibit paintings in Iceland, and recipient of the first public grant that country made to a painter.

Þorláksson, together with a small number of other artists including his contemporary Ásgrímur Jónsson, confronted and portrayed the landscape of their country on its terms and through Icelandic eyes, rather than through the conventions—and the light—of Western European artistic tradition. In this respect the work of Þorláksson and Jónsson played a role similar to that of the Heidelberg School in Australia (slightly earlier) and the Group of Seven, Emily Carr and Tom Thomson in Canada (a little later).

Thank you Maria for this nice cover, with a stamp showing one of the pretty paintings by this great artist.