En egen väg - Den kvinnliga emancipationsprocessen under 1880-talet synliggjord i tre konstverk

Abstract

This essay examines the emancipation of the 1880´s women in Scandinavia art. The three paintings in focus all have in common that they are portraits of Swedish female painters who lived in Paris at some point in the 1880´s. The thesis of this essay is that the female artists from 1880 made a Third Space through their art. By examining the visual elements of the paintings through gender and queer perspectives, this essay shows how the identities of women making art changed in this period. By using specific artistic attributes and body language they broke the conventions of gender. Just by showing the reality of the women artists in that time and place, these portraits becomes reminders that gender is constructed and can be changed. Art is one way for the emancipation of women to take form.