This master thesis explores the image of Japan in the artistic creations during Japonism in Sweden. Japan and Sweden first started trading in 1868 and knowledge about Japan in Sweden were limited at best. With the emergence of the Western art movement known as Japonism, ranging from 1858 to 1914, fascination for the unknown country grew in Europe. As the art movement Japonism became the first era of interest of Japan in Sweden, the portrayal and subsequent image of the country that emerged during this time is of interest to examine, as to better understand how Japan was imagined by Sweden. Herein, this study aims to analyse the portrayal of Japan in artworks from Swedish artists during Japonism in order to examine what components and ideas composed the image of Japan conveyed during Japonism. A collection of visual artworks depicting Japanese elements, based on Japonism associated artists and creators, have been collected using digital archives and databases to assess what is depicted and how by the creators. Japanese elements, such as objects, clothes, people and landscapes were subsequently analysed using a visual analysis based on researcher Jules David Prown’s three-step method of analysing historical objects. Using the concept of the image, as defined by scholar Torsten Burgman, as the basis of the analysis the depictions of Japanese elements are examined and categorised into several larger and smaller components. The examination is conducted within a framework of ethnocentrism and orientalism to contextualise the image of Japan with the thought structures in 19th century Sweden, as the creators portrayed Japan from both a Swedish and Western Eurocentric colonial perspective. As the source material is artistic depictions, an additional aesthetic framework was applied to contextualise the image of Japan with its artistic medium. Four major image components were found in the material: Japan presented as a commodity; Japanese things as something feminine; Japan as something faraway and exotic, contrasting the West; and Japan as a reference or commentary on the ongoing Japonism movement. The image of Japan found in these depictions of Swedish Japonism was a Eurocentric and ethnocentric understanding of the country. Japan and Japanese things, were imagined as something exotic and beautiful, and usually conveyed as exotic commercial flair for Western women.

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.