Sölvi Helgason (August 16, 1820 – November 27, 1895) was an artist, philosopher and drifter in Iceland. If he hadn't been arrested, we might not know anything more about Sölvi than folk tales about his life. He never went to school, but was known to always be painting and writing. It is posited from his writings that he was mentally ill and suffered from paranoia; he was known to accuse people of stealing his work. He often referred to himself by made-up names as well as names of playwrights, artists, musicians and philosophers: Sókrates, Plato, Sólon, Melanchthon, Sölvi Spekingur, Sjúlvi, Húsfriður, Sjúlvi Hinn Vitri, Húmboldt, Spinoza, Göte, Hegel, Schiller, Schott, Newton, Caesar, Leonardo da Vinci, Vasco da Gama, Kant, Lamertine, Skagfjörð Norðlandíus, Beethoven and Shakespeare. Sölvi was convicted several times for vagrancy, falsifying his traveling papers or passport and for petty theft. He was often flogged and spent three years in prison in Denmark. Today approximately 100 of Sölvi's artworks and manuscripts are in the collection of the National and University Library of Iceland and the National Museum of Iceland.
Art
There are no known artworks dated prior to 1854, when Sölvi first went to prison. Although it is believed that he was drawing from a young age, Sölvi claimed in legal documents that his early artwork was destroyed.
Sölvi's artwork falls into two visual themes: 1) floral patterns with decorative capital letters and 2) figurative drawings.
His floral patterns don't change at all in the documented 30 years. These pieces were typically gifts to the people he was staying with.
The figurative drawings are mainly of people that Sölvi had conflict with. He would add horns and extra eyes in an attempt to portray these people as demonic. These artworks show a more creative and emotional side to Sölvi's artwork.
Life
Early life
Sölvi Helgason was born on a farm called Fjall in Sléttuhliíð in the eastern part of Skagafjörður on August 16, 1820. The day after he was born, he was baptized at the nearest church. Sölvi's father was called Helgi Guðmundsson and his mother was called Ingiríður Gísladóttir, they were young, poor farmers who moved often between farms. When Sölvi was 4 his father died. He didn't live with his mother from the age of 6, he was fostered at various farms in the area around his home. His mother died when he was 14 years old.
Oral history describes Sölvi as reckless and unruly but that he showed signs of intelligence. There are also stories of a harsh upbringing. When Sölvi was 11, he was fostered for two years by a reverend called Ólafur Hjaltason Thorberg in Hvanneyri in Siglufjörður. The reverend he lived with had a library and it is thought that Sölvi got his inspiration for his artwork from viewing illustrated books; he also stated in legal documents that he learned to read both in Icelandic and Danish at this farm.
At the age of 15 Sölvi was fostered at a farm called Undhóll in Óslandshlíð, which wasn't far from a regional trading center in Kolkúos, where Sölvi may have purchased watercolor materials.
Björn Þórðarson, District Administrative Officer at Ystahóll helped Sölvi get confirmed at a local church when he was 16 years old. When he was 18 years old, he was sent to Möðruvellir in Hörgádalur to stay with Bjarni Thorarensen who was a prefect and poet. He stayed there for at least one year before he went east to Þingeyjar and Múlasýslu. From there he started drifting around the country.
The drifter
Sölvi traveled around Iceland trading drawings of people and decorative letter forms for food and a place to sleep. In October 1843, Sölvi got arrested in Staðarsveit in Snæfellsnes. At that time, it was mandatory to have written permission from the sheriff in order to travel around Iceland; traveling papers or passport. Sölvi's traveling papers weren't acceptable because they contained strange praising writings about him and had an obviously forged signature of the local sheriff. He later admitted that he had falsified this passport. On March 8, 1845, Sölvi was sentenced for carrying a fake passport and for being a drifter. His punishment was 40 lashes and one year of supervision by the authorities. The punishment was reduced by the supreme court to 27 lashes and 8 months of supervision.