Bergithe Johannessen: A Pioneer in Faroese Art

Where: Skálin
Duration: 45 min.

In 1925, a 19-year-old Faroese woman was admitted to the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts’ School of Painting in Copenhagen – the first Faroese ever to do so.

To mark the 100th anniversary of her admission, the first book about Bergithe Johannessen is now being published – a beautifully illustrated biographical and art-historical work that brings together the previously untold story of an extraordinary pioneer in Faroese art and sheds new light on a woman who led the way both as an artist and as a human being.

For whom was she – this young woman who, already in 1923, travelled from Tórshavn to London to pursue her dream of becoming an artist, and who graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen before Sámal Joensen-Mikines? And what became of her later life?

The book on Bergithe Johannessen is written by the Danish authors Anya Mathilde Poulsen and Gunvor Bjerre.
Anya Mathilde Poulsen has for many years worked with the stories of female artists and is the author of Wild Women, Dark Notes – on Gender and Music; she is also a translator of Faroese literature into Danish.
Gunvor Bjerre is a journalist, author, and a well-known name in Danish TV and radio production.

In this talk, the authors will speak about Bergithe Johannessen’s art and her fascinating life between the Faroe Islands, London, and Copenhagen – a life marked by courage, artistic ambition, and a deep love for the dramatic Faroese landscapes.
Bergithe Johannessen’s watercolours are distinguished by a special eye for light, form, and atmosphere, and several of her works are today part of the collection at the National Gallery of the Faroe Islands (Listasavn Føroya). The book also presents a large number of paintings that have never before been shown to the public.

The event offers insight into the remarkable yet overlooked story of an artist’s life and forms part of a broader conversation about the place of female artists in history, both in a Faroese and a Nordic context.

Introduction by Solveig Hanusardóttir Olsen from the National Gallery of the Faroe Islands (Listasavn Føroya).

Organizer: Sprotin

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