Þorvaldur Skúlason fæddist á Borðeyri 30. apríl 1906. Hann stundaði nám við norska Listaháskólann hjá Axel Revold prófessor frá ársbyrjun 1927 og naut leiðsagnar Marcel Gromaires í París um tveggja ára skeið. Þorvaldur fluttist til Kaupmannahafnar 1933 og dvaldi þar langdvölum. Síðustu árin fyrir heimsstyrjöldina bjó hann um skeið á Sikiley og í París en varð að flýja undan herjum nasista og kom heim til Íslands um mitt sumar 1940. Fyrri verk Þorvalds, landslagsmyndir, atvinnulífsmyndir, portrett og uppstillingar ýmiskonar báru sterkan expressjónískan svip, einkum á síðari hluta tímabilsins. Áður en heimsstyrjöldin skall á málaði hann fyrstu abstraktverk sín í París og tók þráðinn upp að nýju eftir lok hildarleiksins. Upp frá því var hann einn besti og einarðasti fulltrúi abstraktlistarinnar á Íslandi. Þorvaldur Skúlason dó 1984.

Thorvaldur Skulason was born in Iceland on April 30th, 1906. He attended study at the Norwegian Academy of Art with Professor Axel Revold as of early 1927 and was guided by Marcel Gromaires in Paris for two years. The artist moved to Copenhagen in 1933 and remained there for a long time. During the years immediately preceding World War II he lived in Sicily and Paris, but had to flee away from Nazi troops and returned to Iceland in mid-1940. Thorvaldur Skulaon’s former works, being landscapes, pictures of everyday life and a variety of still life motives, were strong in expressionism, particularly so during the latter part of the pertaining period. He painted his first abstract works in Paris before the outbreak of war, resuming this form af art in the post-war period. Since that time he was regared one of the best and most trusty representative of abstract art in Iceland. Thorvaldur Skulason died in 1984.