Biography for Karolina Larusdottir RWS RE (1944 - 2019)

Karolina larusdottir

Early Years

Karolina is a painter and printmaker who was born in Reykjavik, Iceland in 1944. She studied art at the Ruskin School of Art in Oxford (1965-1967).
Karolina lived and worked in Britain for many years after leaving Iceland in the mid sixties, however towards the end of her life she moved back in Reykjavik.

About the art

This artist’s unique visions of her homeland and England have won her a deservedly high reputation in the fields of painting in oils and watercolours and also as a highly skilled printmaker. As a printmaker she works in the medium of etching and aquatint. Her successes include numerous one person shows, both in the UK and internationally. She has participatiedin some of the most prestigious exhibitions in Britain. This includes the Royal Academy Summer Show, where in 1993 and 1997 her paintings were used to advertise the exhibition. Her biography was published in Iceland in 1993.

Karolina’s subject matter is rooted in her upbringing in Iceland. Her grandfather was the owner of the first grand hotel in Reykjavik. Many of the images are derived from glimpses of this busy environment, scenes of chambermaids, chefs and waitresses in the kitchens, observations of guests, and other candid sights. In some works she creates a world of her own, with imaginary people in strange situations. Some are floating, carrying rainbows, or being visited by angels. Her work contains a wry humour that enhances the surreal and timeless qualities she creates when dealing with her favourite topic of people.

Later Years
She is an elected member of the New English Art Club, a fully elected member of the Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers since 1986, and the Royal Watercolour Society in 1996. Her work has won many prizes and awardsLarusdottir was given honorary status in 2014 to the Royal Etchers & Engravers and Royal Watercolour Society

Collections

Vatican Collection, Rome
Nelson Atkin Museum, Kansas, USA
EEC Buildings, Brussels
Collection of HRH Queen Elizabeth II
Listasafn ASI, Reykjavik
Thjodarbokhladan, Reykjavik
Nordisk Aquarell, Sweden

Publications

Jonina Michaelsdottir, Forlagid, Reykjavik, 1993
Painting People, Second Shift, Issue 3, 1994
Master Class with Sister Wendy Beckett, Art Review, July 1994
Sister Wendy Beckett-Meditations on Love, pub. By Dorling Kindersly Press, 1995
Art Newspaper, October 2002
Article in Akvarellmaleri Historia Och Teknik, by Tulla Grunberger
Och Anders Wallin Pub. ICA Bokforlag Sweden, 2002
The Watercolour Expert. Pub. Royal Watercolour Society 2004

Selected mixed shows

Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, 1978, 1986, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2004
Bankside Gallery, London. RWS and RE exhibitions
Mall Galleries, London. NEAC since 1992
Grafica Atlantica, Kjarvalsstadir, Reykjavik, 1987
Islensk Grafik, Aarhus, Denmark, 1989
Premio Internazionale Biella per L'Incisione, Italy, 1990, 1995
Islensk myndlist a leid um Nordurlond, Listasafn ASI, Reykjavik, 1990
Nordisk Aquarell. Goeteborg Konstmuseum, Sweden, 1992
Cambridge Contemporary Art, from 1993 - 2004
Lubljana Biennale, Lubljana, Slovenia, 1993
4th Biennale of Graphic Art, Belgrade, Yugoslavia, 1996
4th Triennale Mondiale D'Estampes Petit Format, Chamaliers, France, 1998
Association for Visual Arts, Metropolitan Life Art Gallery, Cape Town, 1997
Gallery Fold, Reykjavik, 1997 - 2004
Exhibition of Prints, Kettles Yard, Cambridge, 2005

Awards

The Dicks and Greenbury Prize, 1989
4th Triennale Mondiale D'Estampes Petit Format , France
In 1990, Karolina received a special award at the Premio Biella Internazionale per L'Incisione in Italy.
The Graphic artist of the Year 2005, Islensk Grafik.
Aberystwyth University School of Art Collection Prize 2012