|
Special envoy Jon Krabbe (1874 - 1964)
Jon Krabbe was Sigurjón Ólafsson's benefactor during his early years as a student in Copenhagen and for a long time afterwards. The friendship between the sagacious lawyer and diplomat and the young and hot tempered Icelander was in many ways quite remarkable. During his second year at the Royal Academy in Copenhagen, Ólafsson landed in unforeseen economic difficulties, which would have put a stop to his studies if Jon Krabbe hadn't intervened, both with financial contributions and recommendations for commissions. Jon Krabbe also assisted other Icelandic students in Denmark; no doubt he felt a responsibility towards them as he was himself of Icelandic origin. In this bust the artist can be said to fuse two portrait genres, the intimate portrait and the official portrait. In his obituary of Jon Krabbe, High Court Attorney Niels Andersen touched on his contribution to the diplomatic relationship of Denmark and Iceland: "Special envoy Krabbe's contribution to the normalization of the relations between Iceland and Denmark have been cited as the crowning achievements of his career, forever linked to the foundation of an independent state in Iceland." Sculptor Sigurjón Ólafsson and his Portraits Sigurjón Ólafsson Museum 2008, ISBN 978-87-88755-05-03 |