En utmanad bildtradition - En formalestetisk undersökning och analys av Ellen Trotzigs Självporträtt från 1906

Abstract

This thesis examines the self-portrait made the year 1906 by the Swedish artist Ellen Trotzig. Bought by the Gothenburg Museum of Art in 1908, it remains one out of five contemporary oil paintings made by female artists that the museum purchased during the years between 1900 - 1910. The discussion in this essay stems from what is known about the circumstances of the acquisition and additionally from the art critics of its time. After examining this self-portrait by the formal aesthetics and studying the visual elements from a gender perspective, the result of this essay points to the painting as a rare piece in relation to the female self-portrait genre of the early twentieth century. Furthermore, it becomes a reminder of how the self-portrait tradition, as well as gender roles, is constructed and can be changed. The study also deliberates how a self-portrait can be a way to maintain and create the role as a working artist.