Sölvi Helgason

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.

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.

Sölvi Helgason was born on a farm called Fjall in Sléttuhliíð in the eastern part of Skagafjörður on August 16, 1820.

The reverend he lived with had a library and it is thought that Sölvi's inspiration for his artwork came from viewing illustrated books; he also stated in legal documents that he learned to read both in Icelandic and Danish at this farm.

Björn Þórðarson, District Administrative Officer at Ystahóll helped Sölvi get confirmed at a local church when he was 16 years old.

Sölvi traveled around Iceland trading drawings of people and decorative letter forms for food and a place to sleep.

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.

The authorities couldn't prove he had done so, however because of his history of petty theft and his continual illegal drifting around Iceland, he was sentenced in 1854 to spend three years in a prison in Copenhagen.