Sigrid Blomberg och altargruppen i Oskarshamns kyrka : en kvinnas verk

Sammanfattning: Sigrid Blomberg and the altarpiece in the church of Oskarshamn – a woman’s work of art, is an essay with the aim to describe, analyse and to discuss the gypsum altarpiece in the city church of Oskarshamn and its artist, the Swedish sculptor Sigrid Blomberg.  The essay begins with a brief historical description of the situation for female artists in Sweden at the turn of the 20th century and a comment on the material chosen for the altarpiece – gypsum. This is followed by a short summary of the life of Sigrid Blomberg and two other examples of her work to illustrate and discuss similarities with the altarpiece in the church of Oskarshamn.  This is followed by a description of the church and its interior, as well as the altarpiece’s history, creation process and problems. The essay then focuses on an analysis of the different parts, as well as the whole, of the altarpiece – characters, meanings and interpretations. The essay ends in a discussion of the findings and the author’s conclusions regarding the altarpiece and the artist’s place in the art history. Central in the essay is the apparent lack of female artists in the art canon and the reasons and effect due to this.  The author uses a semiotic method and a feminist theory premiss to find the answers to questions such as: why was a female artist chosen for the assignment; how does the artwork compare to other, equivalent and contemporary artworks; how may the placing of the work have effected the perception of the altarpiece; have the perception changed over time; and finally what’s characteristic for the artist Sigrid Blombergs idiom?