Big art – on a small scale. Black and white – but far more. This sums up the art of Elinborg Lützen (1919-95), the first and greatest graphic artist of the Faroe Islands.

Elinborg Lützen belonged to the first generation of Faroese artists. However, unlike her contemporaries, she found her artistic feet at a relatively late stage: in or around 1960. But then things really took off, and the artist’s countless linoleum prints have ensured her a place among the greatest artists of her generation:

Samuel Joensen-Mikines, Ruth Smith, Ingálvur av Reyni and Janus Kamban.

Fairy-tale scenes and landscape pictures of village houses are the two dominant themes in Elinborg Lützen’s art. In the fairy-tale pictures, imagination, power and humour prevail, while her depictions of landscape and people’s lives are objective and classic – at least on the surface. Both sets of motifs are united by a bold, varied cutting technique, which elevates the pictures into the realm of abstraction and modern art.

The exhibition marks the 100th anniversary of Elinborg Lützen’s birth and spans her entire artistic development from the 1940s onwards. Most of the works in the exhibition belong to the National Gallery of the Faroe Islands, while others are on loan from the artist’s family, other private collectors and Norðoya Listafelag.

On museum walls, graphics always have a hard time competing with paintings.

Accordingly, the Museum has attempted to highlight some of the works to make the details and technique more visible, thereby providing visitors with a wonderfully close encounter with the enchanting world of Elinborg Lützen.