Though Samúel Jónsson is one of Iceland’s most famous naïve artists, his works only received any acclaim post mortem where his farm of personal treasures was discovered abandoned to the elements. What could be recovered has been restored to its original condition as best as possible.

His sanctuary lies at the crook of Selárdalur Valley, the bleak grey skies and grass meadows exuding an air of despondence. Juxtaposed to such desolation, the innocence captured in Samúel Jónsson’s installations exists within a bubble of obstinate hope. Samúel Jónsson caught pieces of the globe in order to stitch together his personal playground: the courage of Spain reflected in his impression of The Patio de Los Leones, the bold Icelandic spirit evident in the Viking Age adventurer Leifur the Lucky.

All his installations are made of materials offered by the valley and its adjacent natural features. Concrete mixed from the sand of local beaches, driftwood and gravel all feature heavily in all his works, reflecting the innovation and sincerity one is wont to admire in a child’s art. Cartoonish larger-than-life human models, an eccentric chapel and an adjacent stout concrete block building were all single-handedly constructed by him, scattered about the farmstead in haphazard array. Within the squat building are paintings and other miniature replicas accumulated over time that reflect the same naivety Samúel Jónsson is so well known for. Seeing the blinding purity of innocence in his work is sure to set visitors back in time to when they had eagerly scribbled stick figures and cloudlike trees across walls.