Ásgrimur Jónsson (1876 - 1958) was the very first professional painter in Iceland. He lived and studied art in Copenhagen as well as spending time in Italy, returning to Iceland in his early thirties. 

Jónsson was a pioneer, especially in the field of landscape painting, and all through the years he kept coming back to the powerful nature of his ancestral home, and he was strongly under the influence of impressionists. Another strong theme in his paintings is comprised of Icelandic folklore and legends. Finally the collection includes a number of church murals painted by Ásgrímur. The collection comprises both oils and watercolours.

The collection, which is today a department within the National Gallery of Iceland, originated in 1960 when a small gallery was opened in Ásgrímur's studio and home, which he bequeathed to the Icelandic nation along with all of his works in his own posession upon his death in 1958.