Art Bulletin of Nationalmuseum Stockholm Volumes 24–25 Foreword
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Women Artists in France in the 1880s Carl-Johan Olsson Curator, Paintings and Sculpture Art Bulletin of Nationalmuseum Stockholm Volumes 24–25 Foreword Dr. Susanna Pettersson Director General Associate Professor Art Bulletin of Nationalmuseum, Stockholm, (An Unpublished Drawing on Panel by Salvator (In the Breach of Decorum: Painting between is published with generous support from the Rosa Depicting a Landscape with a Philosopher Altar and Gallery, Fig. 9, p. 163). Friends of the Nationalmuseum. and Astrological Symbols, Fig. 6, p. 22). © Wikimedia Commons/ CC BY 2.0 © The Capitoline Museums, Rome. Archivio (In the Breach of Decorum: Painting between Nationalmuseum collaborates with Svenska Fotografico dei Musei Capitolini, Roma, Sovrinten- Altar and Gallery, Fig. 13, p. 167). Dagbladet, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, denza Capitolina ai Beni Culturali. © The John & Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Grand Hôtel Stockholm, The Wineagency and (A Drawing for Pietro da Cortona’s Rape of the Sarasota. Bequest of John Ringling, 1936. Nationalmusei Vänner. Sabine Women, Fig. 2, p. 28). (In the Breach of Decorum: Painting between © Bibliothèque Nationale France, Paris. Altar and Gallery, Fig. 19, p. 173). Cover Illustration (The Entry of Queen Christina into Paris in 1656, © Uppsala auktionskammare, Uppsala Étienne Bouhot (1780–1862), View of the Pavillon by François Chauveau, Fig. 2, p. 32). (Acquisitions 2017: Exposé, Fig 4, p. 178). de Bellechasse on rue Saint-Dominique in Paris, © Finnish National Gallery/ Sinebrychoff Art 1823. Oil on canvas, 55.5 x 47 cm. Purchase: the Museum, Helsinki. Photo: Jaakko Lukumaa Graphic Design Hedda and N. D. Qvist Fund. Nationalmuseum, (Self-Portraits and Artists’ Portraits as Portraits of BIGG NM 7434. Friends – A Selection of Paintings and Drawings, Fig. 2, p. 72). Layout Publisher © IKEA. Agneta Bervokk Susanna Pettersson, Director General. (Spika and Tajt – Alternative Furniture for a Young Generation, Fig. 5, p. 88). Translation and Language Editing Editors © Moderna museet, Stockholm Clare Barnes, Gabriella Berggren, and Martin Ludvig Florén, Magnus Olausson and Martin Olin. (Henry B. Goodwin – A Visual Artist with the Naylor. Camera as His Tool, Fig. 2, p. 90). Editorial Committee © The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles. Digital Publishing Ludvig Florén, Carina Fryklund, Eva Lena image courtesy of the Getty’s Open Content Ludvig Florén, Magnus Olausson, and Martin Karlsson, Audrey Lebioda, Ingrid Lindell, Program. Olin (Editors) and Ingrid Lindell (Publications Magnus Olausson, Martin Olin, Cilla Robach (Per Krafft the Younger and Belisarius – One of Manager). and Lidia Westerberg Olofsson. the Foremost Swedish Examples of Neoclassical Painting in the French Style, Figs. 3–4, pp. 113–114). Art Bulletin of Nationalmuseum is published Photographers © Albert Bonniers Förlag, Stockholm annually and contains articles on the history and Nationalmuseum Photographic Studio/ (Nils Kreuger’s Drafts for the Covers of Bland theory of art relating to the collections of the Linn Ahlgren, Erik Cornelius, Anna Danielsson, Franska Bönder (1889) by August Strindberg and Nationalmuseum. Cecilia Heisser, Per-Åke Persson and Hans Ord och Bild (1897), Fig. 2, p. 137). Thorwid. © Bukowskis auktioner, Stockholm Nationalmuseum (Nils Kreuger’s Drafts for the Covers of Bland Box 16176 Picture Editors Franska Bönder (1889) by August Strindberg and SE–103 24 Stockholm, Sweden Ludvig Florén and Rikard Nordström. Ord och Bild (1897), Fig. 3, p. 138; Acquisitions www.nationalmuseum.se 2017: Exposé, Fig, 3, p. 178). Photo Credits © Pia Ulin. © Nationalmuseum, the authors and the owners of © Le Gallerie degli Uffizi, Palazzo Pitti, Florence. (The Nationalmuseum’s New Restaurant – An the reproduced works. Gabinetto Fotografico delle Gallerie degli Uffizi. Artistic Collaboration, Figs. 1, 2, 4, and 5, pp. 149, (An Unpublished Drawing on Panel by Salvator 150, 152 and 153). ISSN 2001-9238 Rosa Depicting a Landscape with a Philosopher © Wikimedia Commons/ Public Domain and Astrological Symbols, Fig. 3, p. 19). (Per Krafft the Younger and Belisarius – One of © Teylers Museum, Haarlem. the Foremost Swedish Examples of Neoclassical (An Unpublished Drawing on Panel by Salvator Painting in the French Style, Fig 3, p. 112 and ArtRosa Depicting Bulletin a Landscape with a Philosopher of NationalmuseumIn the Breach of Decorum: Painting between Stockholm and Astrological Symbols, Fig. 5, p. 21). Altar and Gallery, Figs. 1–8, 10–12, and 14–18, © The State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg. pp. 155–172). Photo by Pavel Demidov. © Wikimedia Commons/ CC BY 3.0 Volumes 24–25 Art Bulletin of Nationalmuseum Volumes 24–25, 2017–2018 ACQUISITIONS/ WOMEN ARTISTS IN FRANCE IN THE 1880S Women Artists in France in the 1880s Carl-Johan Olsson Curator, Paintings and Sculpture The Nationalmuseum has acquired four works by women artists, all of whom stayed in France during the 1880s, a period of intense change in Swedish art. In France, the Swedes encountered alternatives to the history painting then favoured at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts at home in Stockholm. Following French role models, several began painting subjects from contemporary everyday life, thus helping lay the foundation of modern Swedish art, as established by the Opponent Movement that rebelled against the Academy of Fine Arts in the mid-1880s. Young artists experienced more free- dom of choice in Paris than at home. They were able to study at smaller private aca- demies where they could start pain-ting in oils immediately, without first practicing drawing for many years. Women students were also able to paint naked male life models, which was not permitted at the officialAcadémie des Beaux-Arts in Paris. In many respects, life in the French capital was freer, because it was possible to live outside the norms of the bourgeoisie.1 There were also better chances of exhibiting their art. The Salon was held every year, to which artists could apply with their work; if they were accepted this provided the best possible exposure to the thousands of visitors that came. All four artists whose work the Nationalmuseum has now acquired were Fig. 1 Elisabeth Keyser (1851–1898), A Confirmand in Normandy, signed 1889. successfully admitted to the Salon. Oil on canvas, 116 x 75 cm. Gift of Ann Stern through the Friends of Nationalmuseum. Nationalmuseum, NM 7478. 117 Art Bulletin of Nationalmuseum Volumes 24–25, 2017–2018 ACQUISITIONS/ WOMEN ARTISTS IN FRANCE IN THE 1880S Elisabeth Keyser travelled to Paris in 1878 and studied under Léon Bonnat, among others, who was then one of France’s leading portrait painters. Keyser would also become a successful portrait painter, but in France she primarily painted pictures of public life in the spirit of naturalism. Her Confirmand from Normandy (Fig. 1) is a good example of how some subjects became fashionable. In 1875, Frenchman Jules Bastien-Lepage, an idol for many Swedish artists, had painted a confirmand and, to judge from Keyser’s painting, this subject was still relevant in 1889.2 1889 was a successful year for Elisabeth Keyser, who showed three paintings at the Exposition Universelle in Paris and one at the annual Salon. One of the works at the Exposition Universelle was a portrait of her mother, which was rewarded with a gold medal. The portrait was offered to the Na- tionalmuseum, which declined, motivating this with the reasoning that the technique was “too French”.3 Instead, it was acquired by the Gothenburg Museum of Art in 1897.4 Judging from the character of the painting, it is not unlikely that Keyser submitted the Nationalmuseum’s newly acquired Confirmand from Normandy to the Salon’s jury, but it has not been possible to confirm this through documentation. Ingeborg Westfelt-Eggertz was in France at the same time as Elisabeth Keyser and they became friends. The small painting of a gate to a boarding house (Fig. 2) was a gift to Keyser from Westfelt- Eggertz, and it is no stretch that it could be a reminder of somewhere they both stayed. Meudon is just outside Paris and attracted many Nordic artists. Together, both artists would later run an art school for young women in Sweden. Jenny Nyström’s watercolour from Paris has a similarly informal character (Fig. 3). Scenes from Paris’ cityscapes by Fig. 2 Ingeborg Westfelt-Eggertz (1855–1936), Impression from Meudon, signed 1887. Oil on wood panel, 31.5 x 20.5 cm. Gift of Ann Stern through the Friends of Nationalmuseum. Nationalmuseum, NM 7479. the Swedish artists who travelled there are surprisingly unusual. Nyström painted the watercolour in 1884, the same year she exhibited her famous self-portrait at Art Bulletin of Nationalmuseum Volumes 24–25, 2017–2018 118 ACQUISITIONS/ WOMEN ARTISTS IN FRANCE IN THE 1880S the annual Salon in Paris. The subject is possibly from Montmartre, where multiple Swedish artists had their studios in the 1870s and 80s. The fourth new acquisition is a sensitive study by Gerda Tirén, depicting a mother with a child in her arms (Fig. 4). The painting is an excellent example of how Swedish artists skilfully adopted new painting techniques when abroad. The brush strokes are reminiscent of some paintings by John Singer Sargent and Anders Zorn, who did not actually begin painting in oils until 1887, three years later. Unlike many female artists who married and were then expected to prioritise that time’s marital duties, Gerda Tirén’s creativity did not cease. Among other things, she worked successfully as an il- lustrator. Works by women artists are high on our wish list, quite simply because we want to be able to present a fairer image of the situation in the arts in the late 19th cen- tury. History writing can never be regarded as definitive, and we are now changing the art history that was written in the 20th century by looking at the actual situation. There were many women artists, and they were visible, but this is rarely apparent in overviews of art history published in the 20th century.