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Sculptor Asmundur Sveinsson was born at the Kolsstadir farm in the Dalir District on May 20th, 1893. He moved to Reykjavik in 1915, started as an apprentice in wood carving with the sculptor and wood carver Rikhardur Jonsson, and attended the Technical College as well. After this apprenticeship, he continued for one year in Copenhagen.
The same autumn he entered the Academy of Art and finished his studies there in 1926, mainly under the guidance of the sculptor Carl Milles. In the spring of 1926, he received a diploma from the Swedish Academy of Art and moved to Paris, where he stayed for three years under the guidance of many teachers, such as the sculptor Despiau. He returned to Iceland in 1929 after 10 years stay abroad.
In 1933, he built a gallery at Freyjugata in Reykjavik (now the art gallery of the trade unions), where he worked until 1942, when he started the construction of a new gallery at Sigtun in 1942, where his work is on display. The arch shaped building was added in 1959. He died on December 9th, 1982, and left all his works to the municipality.
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