The subject of this dissertation is the Finland-Swedish author Gunnar Björling (1887-1960) and his journey towards Modernism. The principle thesis of this dissertation, the idea that Björling’s distinctive language cannot be understood without an underlying modernistic current, is outlined in Chapter I. It also discusses the idea that Modernism cannot be reduced to a matter of style, but encompasses particular values, ideological stances and practical matters, such as the forming of alliances, writing manifestos and publishing journals. Chapter II examines how and why Björling came to be regarded as a modernist. A strongly contributing factor was Björling’s language, which from the very first violated prevailing ideas on acceptable forms of expression. The fact that he published his first book through the modernist publishing firm Daimon, and contributed to its journal Ultra, further confirmed his modernistic placing. Chapter III focuses on Björling’s unpublished juvenilia from the 1910’s. The young Björling wrote traditional rhyming verse but was also influenced by writings of a more symbolistic and modern character. The chapter concludes with a study of bizarrerierna, Björling’s dream notes, originally written during the 1910’s but first published in 1928. With their bold enjambments and highly compressed form, these notes came to influence the continued development of his lyrical imagery. Chapter IV deals with his debut Vilande dag (Resting day) (1922) and its symbolistically coloured language problematic. Björling struggled to find a language that would convey his experience of the limitlessness of being, a language striving to transcend words, leaving space for silence. This struggle for the right words continues in the later Korset och löftet (The cross and the promise) (1925) and Chapter V demonstrates how this is connected with the quest for God. In the wake of German Expressionism and Dadaism, Björling adopts a more disjointed syntax and a bolder and more dissonant lyrical imagery. There also occurs a thematic expansion, giving greater prominence to the daily life of the metropolis, a life transformed by media. In accordance with modernistic patterns, Björling chose to end his book with a theoretical epilogue, which is a distinctive collation of life philosophy, anti-clericalism, passionate religiousness, moral-philosophical discussions and aesthetic expositions.

This thesis is an analysis of Endre Nemes’ art and how he was received in Sweden. It will also cover his eight years as an art teacher at Valand art school. The timespan has been limited to his first eighteen years in Sweden. The thesis uses mainly Pierre Bourdieu’s The Rules of Art as a theoretical approach. Nemes was from Central European and a modern painter, he was regarded as cubist, surrealist and in the last years of the period as abstract. The first part concentrates on how his art evolved during the eighteen years and how the art critics described him. Especially four artworks have been analyzed. Context analysis is used to examine art criticism in Swedish newspapers from eight exhibitions. One result from the analysis is that during the years 1940 up until 1955 Nemes is regarded as avantgarde, a forerunner in Sweden and tended to shock the audience with his art. Even if he was very productive and had solo exhibitions, he mostly sold to other artists and early adopters. In the last years, especially after he left his job as a teacher, and became more abstract, he was just one of several artists and cannot any longer be regarded as avantgarde. The second part of the thesis covers Nemes as teacher at Valand art school in Gothenburg. Nemes was a precursor in modern art teaching. The period at Valand is interesting as it influenced both Swedish and Nemes own art. The thesis investigates what method he used as a teacher, how he was appreciated as a teacher both by his art students and by art critics in Swedish newspapers. The thesis also analyzes how Nemes impacted the student’s future way of painting. The result is that he had an impact on some of the students, but not on others. Most impact did he have on a group of students that was close to him, while other did not fully appreciate his teaching. Nemes’ method was to leave the students and their individual development as much freedom as possible, while still being strict on teaching different techniques and the importance of a careful composition. Another result was that all studied students used this knowledge in their future as independent artists.