Nína Tryggvadóttir 1913-1968

Nína Tryggvadóttir was born in in Seyðisfjörður, on the east coast of Iceland on 16th March 1913. She was an Icelandic Artist

In 1920, Tryggvadóttir’s family moved to Reykjavík where they became friends with the Icelandic painter Ásgrímur Jansson (1876-1958). After studying art in Iceland, Tryggvadótti moved to Copenhagen (in 1935) where she studied art at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts (Det Kongelige Danske Kunstakademi).

After graduating from the Academy in 1939 she studied briefly in Paris before returning to Iceland at the outbreak of WWII.

In 1942, following an allowance from the Icelandic Government, Tryggvadótti moved to the USA to study at the Art Students League of New York, where she studied under the Russian-born American painter Morris Kantor (1896-1974) and the German-born American abstract expressionist painter Hans Hoffman (1880-1996).

Tryggvadótti became heavily involved in the New York art scene of the time and had her first solo exhibition (1945) at the prestigious New Art Circle Gallery run by the art dealer and publisher Jsrael Ber Neumann - JB Neumann - (1887-1961) and was involved in the creation of the sets and costumes for a performance of (the ballet version of) Igor Stravinsky and Charles-Ferdinand Ramuz’s L'Histoire du Soldat (The Soldier’s Tale)

In 1949, Tryggvadótti married Alfred Lewin Copley (1910-1992), the German-American (Hemorheology) scientist and New York School artist. Later that year they visited Iceland together. This was the very beginning of the McCarthy era in the USA, and while Tryggvadótti was in Iceland, she was informed that she was suspected of being a Communist sympathiser and would therefore not be allowed to return to the USA.

Tryggvadótti settled, once again, in Paris. Copley joined her for a few years and their daughter (Una Dora Copley) was born in 1951. During her exile from the United States Tryggvadótti soon became a central part of the Paris / London art scenes - exhibiting at the National Museum of Modern Art (Musée National d’Art Moderne), Paris and the ICA (Institute of Contemporary Arts), London.

Tryggvadótti returned to the United States as soon as she was permitted to do so (in 1959), settling in New York City.

Nina Tryggvadótti tragically died in New York City on 18th June 1968 at the age of 55.

Tryggvadótti exhibited extensively throughout her life. Other notable exhibitions include Museum of Modern Art, New York; Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris; Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels; The National Gallery of Iceland and The Reykjavik Municipal Art Gallery. Examples of her works are held in numerous private and public collections throughout Europe, Japan, and the United States. Tryggvadóttir also frequently returned to, and exhibited in, Iceland.

She is Iceland's most important abstract expressionist artist of her generation - As well as painting, her works include collage, abstract stained glass windows, mosaic murals, stage and set designs, textile designs, portraits and children’s books.

Nína Tryggvadóttir