Gerda Wallander : En återuppstånden konstnärinna

Sammanfattning: The purpose of this thesis is to examine the artistry of the Swedish artist Gerda Wallander (1860–1926). Wallander’s artistry has until recently been overlooked in Swedish art history, it is therefore uncharted territory. Provincialism is used as the overall theoretical framework in this study. By applying provincialism as the overall theoretical framework, the study distinguishes between international, national, and personal characteristics in Wallander’s aesthetics. In order to rediscover her artistry, the following study analyzes her biography, exhibitions, works of art, as well as the media coverage of Wallander’s artistry. The applied method is based on network analysis inspired by Pierre Bourdieu, biographical method, picture analysis inspired by Jan-Gunnar Sjölin, and close reading. The study demonstrates that Wallander’s artistic career is divided in two different periods, 1883–1895 and 1909–1919. Wallander’s aesthetics is characterized as moderate progressive in both of these periods, as the study suggests that this artistic sensibility enables her to gain recognition as a professional artist within the Swedish art scene. In addition, Wallander specializes in cityscape-painting depicting Stockholm during the early 20th century in her second artistic period. This illustrates the provincial aspects of Wallander’s artistry, as she implements both international and national artistic influences into her art. Furthermore, this study suggests that Gerda Wallander’s way of depicting pre-modern Stockholm is her way of dealing with the new urban experience, which is an effect of the rapid transformation of the Swedish capital in the beginning of the 20th century. The study exposes the lack of knowledge of this field, namely the depiction of Stockholm in early Swedish 20th century art within the Swedish art history discipline.