Jón Engilbert was a visual artist born Jón Sigurjónsson, in Reykjavík on May 23, 1908. Jón's parents were Sigurjón Grímsson, a master mason, and Birgitta Jónsdóttir.

     Beginning in 1921 he studied at Guðmundur Thorsteinsson's private school (Muggur) in Reykjavík and studied at Samvinnuskólinn (The Cooperative School). From there he went to Copenhagen in 1927 and studied drawing at the Technical Society's School in Copenhagen and at Viktor Isbrand's private school. He later enrolled at the Danish Royal Academy of Arts and was there from 1928–1931. He studied under Ejnar Nielsen who painted fearless and melancholic pictures, and graphic artist Axel Jörgensen. From 1931–1933 he went to Norway and studied at the Oslo National Academy of the Arts under the guidance of artist Axel Revold.

     In 1932 he married Jón Tove Fugman. From 1933–1934 they lived in Reykjavík, but later moved back to Copenhagen and lived there until 1940. He took an active part in the Danish art scene and was elected member of the exhibition group Kammeraterne in 1936. Also in the mid 1930s he took part in group exhibitions in Germany at Kunstverein Hannover and Stadtsparkasse Köln.

     His returned to Iceland in the autumn of 1940 and built a house in Reykjavík that he designed himself along with architect Gunnlaugur Halldórsson. While it was under construction, Engilbert and his wife were offered the use of a summer cabin in Kópavogur. During this time the artist painted a series depicting the people in landscape. Ólafur Kvaran says of them in the book Jón Engilberts, “The landscape now becomes the premise or stage of new works, addressing people in nature, or where nature itself is sensed as a metaphor for emotional experiences”.

     Various critics have pointed out the influence of Edvard Munch, with whose art Engilbert became acquainted in his student years in Norway. Björn Th. Björnsson says of "Evening in Kópavogur", which is closely connected with "Winter Day in Kópavogur", “Here he touches the strings of the introverted, Expressionistic approach so natural to him… The ragged landscape, with discordant and irregular colours, does not in itself convey any particular feeling, nor do the people in the foreground. But in the relationship between the people and nature, the melancholic, quivering chord begins to sound…”

     Engilberts was the winner of the Van Gogh prize in 1939, and was given the Order of the Falcon from the president of Iceland in 1961. He is represented in The National Gallery of Iceland, Reykjavík Art Museum, the National Gallery of Denmark (SMK), and the Hafnarfjörður Centre of Culture and Fine Art.