Winnipeg, the capital city of Icelanders in North America, sometimes boasts that many world-famous artists have their roots in that city. From 1875, a stream of Icelanders came there to try their luck in the West, to create a better livelihood for themselves and their families than they encountered in the country. Some of these people stayed in the city for some time, some immediately went to relatives and friends somewhere in Western Canada or N. Dakota in the United States, others made up their mind before their future was decided and a strategy was made for settlement. Some never went further and made their home in the city and lived there for the rest of their lives. Icelandic children were born there, some grew up there, while others disappeared into Icelandic countryside in the neighboring provinces in Canada or the US. Such was the case with Emile Walters, an artist who would gain fame and fortune for his artwork. Þórstína Þorleifsdóttir writes about him in her book, “Saga Íslendinga í N. Dakota”, which was published in 1926. Of all the people she talks about, Walter’s childhood is the least discussed. However, she traces his ancestry somewhat. Nowhere does she mention the fact that he was her husband or what year he was born. His father died in 1891 in Winnipeg and had come there in 1877. She does not report whether his parents were a married couple, it is clear that they went west to Winnipeg the same year on the same ship from Sauðárkrókur. The fact that Emile was adopted as a baby by Guðlaugur Kristjánsson and his wife, Anna Þorleifsdóttir, may be the explanation. Þórstína writes:
Roosevelt’s Haunts, Early Autumn Artwork by Emile Walters Courtesy of the National Gallery, Washington, D. C.
Origin: “Skagafjörður has always been considered an influential place. Among other great men descended from there, is the world-famous sculptor Albert Thorvaldsen. A few years ago, an Icelandic boy from Skagafjörður was earning a living by painting houses in the Garðar settlement in North Dakota. When there was a break from work, he passed the time by painting pictures on the bottoms and lids of pots. Few would have predicted that not many years later a painting by him would be chosen to decorate the National Museum of American Art in Washington, and that he would be the youngest artist so honored. Likewise, that picture would be chosen as one of thirty pictures by American artists, to be shown in all the main art museums of the country. Nor would people have considered that this picture would be painted on the ranch of Theodore Roosevelt, the former US president, and that the young artist would be a favorite of the Roosevelt family. (It’s nice to note here that this President gave Icelandic settlers permission to live at Point Roberts in Washington State in 1907: Insert by Jónas Þór) Emile Walters was born in Winnipeg but moved to the Icelandic community in North Dakota when he was a few years old. His father was Páll Valtýr Eiríksson (Páll Valdimar Eiríksson in the census of the National Archives of Iceland from 1880: insert by Jónas Þór) from Bakki in Viðvíkursveit in Skagafjörður. Páll’s father was Eiríkur Bjarnason, Eiríksson the priest in Blönduhlíð, Bjarnason, Eiríksson the rich, who once lived in Djúpadalur. Páll’s mother was Hólmfríður Gísladóttir from Lón. Hólmfríður’s mother was Anna Halldórsdóttir, Brynjólfsson, Bishop Halldórsson of Hólar in Hjaltadal. Emile’s mother is Björg Jónsdóttir from Reykjavik on Reykjaströnd. Her mother was Guðrún Steinsdóttir from Barkarstaðir in Svartárdalur. Steinn’s wife, Guðrún’s mother, was Björg Pétursdóttir from Geirmundarstaðir in Sæmundarhlíð in Skagafjörður. Bjarni of Bakka’s wife, Emile’s great-grandmother, was Dýrleif, Anna’s sister in Flatatunga, grandmother of Dr. Gíslason in Grand Forks and his siblings. Emile lost his father while young and did not have any long-term home for several years, until Guðlaugur Kristjánsson, now living in Wynyard, and his wife took him in as a foster child and proved to be loving parents. When he died, he worked painting houses, first in the Dakotas and later in Western Canada.”
Painter: “As he pursued, the desire to go to art school grew more and more. Several of those whom he trusted for this desire of his, dissuaded him from it, saying that it was the greatest absurdity, almost dubious to think of it. Despite the poverty, poor health for a while and various other difficulties, he managed to work his way through the art school in Chicago (The Art Institute of Chicago); and shortly afterwards he went to New York, and there he had to go through the purgatory which that city usually requires of unknown talents, before it deems them worthy of rising out of the stream of millions of men in one field or another. In New York, Emile met the famous Icelandic sculptor, Einar Jónsson, and soon struck up a friendship with him. Einar encouraged the young artist to acquire more education, and soon after he began studying at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia. Sometime later, the wealthy man and friend of artists, Louis C. Tiffany, was shown works by him. Tiffany was then in the process of establishing an organization to support artists and art, and he awarded Emile a $2000 grant. After that, the paddling started to get lighter. A little later he painted “Roosevelt’s Haunts, Early Autumn” at President Roosevelt’s residence, which attracted attention not only in the United States, but also in other countries. It won awards, both in New York and Chicago, and is now owned by the National Museum of Art in Washington. Many more of Emile’s pictures have received awards, and there are paintings by him in twenty art museums, also in private museums and schools and universities. Among his well-known works are: “Morning Light”, property of the University of Saskatchewan province in Canada: “Early Spring”, bought by some wealthy people for the schools in Pittsburgh; “Birches in Winter”, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas; “Depths of Winter” Heckschser Museum, Huntington, Long Island, etc. “Blossom Time in Canada” has recently been on display at the Tate Gallery, England’s national art museum, and received great praise. Two pictures, “Winter” and “Storm” were bought by the middle school of Saskatoon in Canada, in memory of two Icelandic boys who died in the war, Jakob and Skúli Líndal. “April Snow” is in the art collection of Norman McKenzie, Regina, Canada, board member of the National Museum of Art in Ottawa, Canada. Recently, he was invited to send artwork to exhibitions in Central and South America, and he was one of the few American artists who received that honor. He annually exhibits paintings at the Carnegie Institute’s World Art Exhibition in Pittsburgh. Many magazines, which mainly deal with art, have given high praise to Emile’s paintings. Among them are American Art News, New York; International Studio, London and New York; The Paris magazine “La Reuve Moderne” et al. The New York Times magazine recently called his award-winning painting, “Full Bloom”, a poetic dream of spring, which showed clear and strong lines through the blueness of the spring air and the colorful beauty of the flowers. Many artists’ associations have honored Emile. He is a member of various significant clubs, such as the Salmagundi Club in New York, the Art Club of Philadelphia, the Boston Art Club and others.
The Person: Emile’s demeanor is quiet and straightforward. He is optimistic and has a sunny outlook. He finds great pleasure in reading good books and listening to beautiful music. One of the books that he cherishes a lot, and has traveled with him to many places, is Grettir’s Saga, which K.N. gave him at Garðar, and it must have been one of the first books he acquired. He prefers to paint nature with a peaceful tone and seems to be at home in every season. When he brings human life to the fore, it is free from the waves of turmoil and hardship. In all likelihood, this artist will for a long time continue to weave his poetic dreams of Icelandic quality into American nature and draw the attention of the rest of the world to the beauty and attraction to the Vínland of his ancestors”.
During my travels through Icelandic settlements in North America, I have many times caught my eye on paintings by Walters. Both found in private homes, e.g. in Minneapolis, Washington Island in Wisconsin, Utah and Seattle. At the Skálholt old folks’ residence in Blaine, Washington, there are several as well as at a similar home, Borg, in Mountain, N. Dakota. Emile Walters went to Iceland several times and painted a lot there. Jonas Thor
English version by Thor group.