Samúel Jónsson (1884-1969) has been called “the artist innocent at heart.” After retiring and starting to collect a pension, he painted and constructed remarkable statues and buildings at Brautarholt in Selárdalur, an isolated valley, without ever having received any artistic training. He created statues of seals, lions, seahorses, a duck with
ducklings on its back, and Leifur Eiriksson. Working entirely alone, he also constructed a museum building for his pieces and a church intended to house an altarpiece he had made and the local parish church had rejected.
In the wintertime, he painted and also carved frames for his work. After Samúel died, his artwork and buildings were left unattended and suffered severely from exposure to the harsh weather condition for many years.
The association for the renovation of Samúel Jónsson’s art museum in Selárdalur has been working on the restoration of Samúel’s statues and buildings for some years. Samúel’s house is still to be restored and will include a shop and a guest-apartment
