The Mothers' Garden
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Męšragaršurinn
(English side:)
As its name implies, the Mothers' Garden, opened in 1925, was primarily intended for mothers with their children. It had previously been a patch of uncultivated land. It was part of the estate of the Skįlholtskot croft, located at what is now Laufasvegur 13-17, an outlying property belonging to Reykjavik farm estate. In the grass field which now is the Mothers' Garden was a spring, known as the Skįholt Spring, whose water was said to be unusually fresh and wholesome. The widening of Lękjargata in 1950 encroached on the Garden.
"Blessed be the little fingers / of my mother / that picked cottongrass in the march"
Vilborg Dagbjartsdóttir: From Candlemass
Motherly Love, a sculpture by Nina Sęmundsson, was installed on the site of the Skįholt Spring in 1930. It was the first sculpture by a woman to be erected in Reykjavik and the first public sculpture that was not a memorial or portrait, but an autonomous work of art. It is at once simple and poetic, embedded with an intimacy that fits the subject. Sęmundsson made Motherly Love in Paris in 1924 and submitted it for the fall exhibition at the Salon d'Automne at the Grand Palais, for which she received rave reviews and honourable mention under the French flag.
Sęmundsson studied sculpture at the Royal Danish Academy in Copenhagen from 1916-1920. She stayed in Rome and Paris for a while, moved to New York in 1926 and from there to Hollywood four years later where she lived and worked for the next 25 years. Among her well known works are the sculptures Spirit of Achievement, situated above the main entrance of the Waldorf-Astoria hotel in New York, and Prometheus in MacArthur Park in Los Angeles. Sęmundsson's Mermaid was installed in the Reykjavik City Lake in 1959 but destroyed by a bomb shortly after. It was replaced with a duplicate copy at the south end of the Lake in 2014.
(Icelandic side:)
Blessašir veri fingurnir smįu / hennar mömmu / sem tķndi fifu ķ mżrinni"
Styttan Móšurįst eftir Nķnu Sęmundsson (1892-1965) var sett upp įriš 1930 į žeim staš sem Skįlholtslindin var. Žetta var fyrsta myndin eftir konu sem reist var į opinberum vettvangi ķ Reykjavķk og fyrsta opinbera höggmyndin sem var ekki minnismerki.
Myndin er ķ senn einföld og ljóšręn og yfir henni hvķlir innileikablęr sem hęfir višfangsefninu vel. Hśn varš til ķ Parķs 1924 og var sżnd į Haustsżningunni ķ Grand Palais žar sem hśn hlaut mikla athygli og heišurssess undir franska fįnanum.
Nķna nam höggmyndalist ķ Konunglegu listaakademiunni ķ Kaupmannahöfn į įrunum 1916-1920. Hśn dvaldi i Róm og Parķs um tķma en 1926 fiutti hśn til New York og fjórum įrum sišar til Hollywood, žar sem hśn starfaši ķ aldarfjóršung. Mešal žekktra verka Nķnu er Afrekshugur, sem stendur yfir ašalanddyri Waldorf-Astoria hótelsins ķ New York, og mynd Prómežeifsķ MacArthur Parki Los Angeles. Höggmynd Ninu, Hafmeyjan, sem var sett upp ķ Tjörninni ķ Reykjavķk 1959 og sprengd ķ loft upp stuttu seinna, mį sjį ķ nżrri afsteypu ķ sušurenda Tjarnarinnar.
Vilborg Dagbjartsdóttir: Śr Kyndilmessu
Topics.
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Location. 64° 8.737′ N, 21° 56.304′ W. Marker is in Reykjavķk, Capital Region (Höfušborgarsvęšiš), in Reykjavķkurborg. It is in Downtown. It is at the intersection of Lękjargata and Vonarstręti, on the right when traveling north on Lękjargata. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Reykjavķk, Capital Region 101, Iceland. Touch for directions.
Regionally, it is on the Atlantic Ocean, in the North Atlantic Region, on the Atlantic Arc, in Europe, in Atlantic Europe, in the Nordic Countries, in the Schengen Area, in the Western Hemisphere, and in the Western World.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Žjóšfundurinn 1851 / The National Assembly of 1851 (within shouting distance of this marker); Menntaskólinn ķ Reykjavķk / High School in Reykjavķk (about 90 meters away, measured in a direct line); Landlęknihśsiš (about 150 meters away); Svava Jakobsdóttir (about 150 meters away); Žingholtsstręti 17
Credits. This page was last revised on June 3, 2018. It was originally submitted on June 3, 2018, by Andrew Ruppenstein of Lamorinda, California. This page has been viewed 644 times since then and 25 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. submitted on June 3, 2018, by Andrew Ruppenstein of Lamorinda, California.
