Land Seen (2014 – 2016)
Land Seen – In the Footsteps of Johannes Larsen was the second large project Einar Falur produced using a deceased artist as a „guide“, while documenting the present with artistic inspiration from the past. Einar Falur used as his inspiration in this project highly detailed drawings the Danish artist Johannes Larsen (1867-1961) made in Iceland during two summers, in 1927 and 1930. Larsen made over 300 drawings of sites mentioned in the Sagas of the Icelanders for a three-volume edition of the sagas published by the Danish press Gyldendal between 1930 and 1932.
For three years, from 2014 to 2016, Larsen‘s drawings were Einar Falur‘s guide while he travelled around Iceland and photographed with a 4x5 inch camera in many of the same places where the Dane had worked. The result is a conversation between – or a collision of - three eras: the age of the Sagas, Larsen´s 20th century and Einar Falur‘s 21st century.
The first exhibition of the project opened in the Johannes Larsen Museum in Kerteminde in Denmark in December 2016, with pairings of works by both artists. A different version of the project was exhibited the next summer in Hafnarborg, Iceland. The bilingual book Landsýn / Land Seen was published by Crymogea in 2017.
Johannes Larsen: The Berserkjagata path in Berserkjahraun lava field and Mt. Bjarnarhafnafjall: August 20, 1927 / The Berserkjagata path in Berserkjahraun lava field and Mt. Bjarnarhafnarfjall: August 28, 2016.
After an unseen drawing by Johannes Larsen, „The view from Hnjúkur towards Vatnsdalshólar hillocks and Lake Flóðið, August 5, 1930.“ July 21, 2016.
Stóri-Dímon and Fljótshlíð: April 19, 2015.
Johannes Larsen: From Káragerði towards Bergþórshvoll: July 12, 1927 / From Bergþórshvoll towards Káragerði: June 23, 2016.
Johannes Larsen: Mt. Seljalandsmúli, Litli-Dímon and Stóri-Dímon seen from Múlakot: July 8, 1927 / Mt. Seljalandsmúli and Stóri-Dímon seen from Múlakot: July 28, 2016.
The family graveyard at Múlakot. Larsen‘s assistant, painter Ólafur Túbals, is buried here: July 28, 2016.
Öxarfjörður: July 18, 2016.
Sander Phoelich from the Netherlands, Þingvellir: July 9, 2016.
Johannes Larsen: Öxarárfoss waterfall: June 27, 1927 / Öxarárfoss waterfall: July 9, 2016.
A view towards Mt. Mosfell from Leiruvogur: August 1, 2015.
Johannes Larsen: From Neðri-Háls towards Mt. Esja: July 2, 1930 / Shelter by Eilífsdalur valley and Mt. Esja: September 1, 2016.
Dögurðarnes in Hvalfjörður: August 9, 2016.
Johannes Larsen: Lake Skorradalsvatn, Indriðastaðir and Mt. Skarðsheiði seen from Grund: July 6, 1930 / Davíð Pétursson at Grund. Lake Skorradalsvatn, Indriðastaðir and Mt. Skarðsheiði: August 9, 2016.
Johannes Larsen: The Hvítá estuary in Borgarfjörður, Mt. Hafnarfjall and Borgarnes: July 31, 1927 / Linda María Ásudóttir and Harpa Rut Jónasdóttir, Borgarnes, Mt. Hafnarfjall to the south: June 17, 2016.
Johannes Larsen: Borg at Mýrar: August 8, 1927 / Borg at Mýrar: July 6, 2014.
Reykholt in Borgarfjörður: August 9, 2016.
Steinunn Ólafsdóttir at Gilsbakki: August 12, 2009 / Steinunn Ólafsdóttir at Gilsbakki: September 1, 2016.
Johannes Larsen: Hítará river by Hólmur: July 10, 1930 / Hítará river where the farm Hólmur used to be: July 4, 2016.
Johannes Larsen: Fróðarós estuary: August 16, 1927 / Fróðárós estuary: July 5, 2016.
Johannes Larsen: Laxá in Dalir by Höskuldsstaðir, toward south-west: July 18, 1930 / Laxá in Dalir by Höskuldsstaðir, toward south-west: July 2, 2016.
Johannes Larsen: View from Goðahóll by Hof in Vatnsdalur across Vatnsdalsá river toward Undirfell: August 9, 1930 / View from Goðahóll by Hof in Vatnsdalur across Vatnsdalsá river toward Undirfell: September 5, 2016.
After an unseen drawing by Johannes Larsen: „View from Hnjúkur: Vatnsdalur, Lake Helgavatn, Vatnsdalsá river and Hvammur, August 5, 1930“: June 21, 2016.
Johannes Larsen: Looking over Skagafjörður, toward Mt. Tindastóll and Drangey Island, from Arnarstapi: August 16, 1930 / Looking over Skagafjörður, toward Mt. Tindastóll and Drangey Island, from Arnarstapi: June 19, 2016.
After an unseen drawing by Johannes Larsen: „Svarfaðardalur valley. View from Vellir toward Mt. Sauðanes-hnjúkur, August 24, 1930“: August 14, 2015.
rom the exhibition Landsýn / Land Seen, Hafnarborg, Hafnarfjörður, Iceland, 2016.
From the exhibition Blik paa Island – Travels with Johannes Larsen in the Johannes Larsen Museum, Kerteminde, Denmark, 2016.
rom the exhibition Landsýn / Land Seen, Hafnarborg, Hafnarfjörður, Iceland, 2016.
From the exhibition Blik paa Island – Travels with Johannes Larsen in the Johannes Larsen Museum, Kerteminde, Denmark, 2016.
Prints from the Land Seen-project in the exhibition Meeting Halfway. Kunsthaus Kloster Gravenhorst, at Münsterland Festival, Germany, 2017.
Prints from the Land Seen-project in the exhibition Meeting Halfway. Kunsthaus Kloster Gravenhorst, at Münsterland Festival, Germany, 2017.
The bilingual book Landsýn / Land Seen was published by Crymogea in 2017. The hardcover book is 26 x 30 cm, with over 160 images by both artists and text by Einar Falur. He describes Larsen‘s project in Iceland and his own three year extensive collaboration with the drawings. He also discusses landscape and cultural history, and how both artists used and depicted the land in their own time, often with similar but sometimes different goals.
