Portal:Iceland/Selected biography/4

Ásmundur Sveinsson was an Icelandic sculptor, was born at Kolsstadir in West Iceland on May 20, 1893 and died in Reykjavík on December 9, 1982. His themes were often men and women at work and included such pieces as, The Blacksmith, The Washer Women and The Water Carrier. During the 1940s Ásmundur's work moved even farther away from the human and animal form that had been his mainstay until then and by the 1950s he was producing work that was almost entirely abstract. Like many Icelandic artists Ásmundur drew upon the traditions of his native country when seeking subjects to inspire him. These include Trollwoman, (1948), Head Ransom, (1948), based on a poem that Egil Skallagrimsson composed to save his own head and Hell-Ride, (1944) taken from the Prose Edda of Snorri Sturlusson.