Barbara Árnason emerged from one artistic environment and put down roots in another. She was born in Hampshire in southern England in1911 and grew up in a society shaped by rapid modernization with urbanization, technological progress, and the rise of industrial cities. Where in response to this industrialization, art movements such as the Arts and Crafts Movement emerged, elevating craft and reforming art and design. Where the weight of the industrialsociety was met by a rich cultural history. Despite industrialization and the pressures of modernity, this was a society with a strong artistic tradition, where decorative art, visual art, and design werea natural part of everyday life. Barbara studied art at the Winchester School of Art and later at the Royal College of Art in London, where she specialized in design, metal engraving, and woodcut. Following her studies, she established herself in the field of graphic art in England, began illustrating books, and taught alongside her artistic practice. In the summer of 1936, Barbara set foot in Iceland for the first time. She had recently completed illustrations for a book about the Icelandic sagas, sparking her interest in the country and its history.

During her stay, she travelled around the country and unexpectedly settled in Iceland after meeting the artist Magnús Á. Árnason. Barbara Árnason was a versatile artist with exceptional mastery of technical execution across the various mediums she explored. She developed her own approach and artistic inquiry based on personal priorities, carving out her space in the art world through experimentation with materials such as printmaking, textiles, book illustrations, and panel paintings. These were mediums situated on the margins of what was considered traditional fine art but were closely tied to daily life, both in public and domestic spaces. Her work often walked the line between design and fine art. This approach, combined with her emphasis on narrative, simultaneously referenced the English tradition of fine craftsmanship and decorative arts, and the Icelandic visual heritage found in carved bed boards and historical textiles depicting well known stories. As her work evolved, so too did her techniques and aesthetic, but at its core it remained rooted in the everyday, the close, and the delicate. She constantly sought new materials and forged her own path across artistic disciplines. As Barbara herself said in an interview with the magazine 65° in 1969: “It is absolutely essential for an artist to be utterly free to explore new channels.”