This thesis is about two Swedish artists named Julia Beck (1852–1935) and Maj Bring (1880–1971). The idea was to see what kind of differences there were between these two Swedish female artists. They both studied at the Swedish Art academy and both had very successful careers, though they belong to different generations of artist. The first question to be answered, was is if you could see any similarities or differences in their education and career. The other question in this thesis was how the female art was perceived during the different art exhibitions which Julia Beck or Maj Bring participated in. Could you see if the art were perceived and judged differently due to, they being female artist? And could you see if there were any kind of resistance towards them as artists or towards their art and if so, how did it express itself? To answer that question the analysis is based on art exhibit reviews with a theory based on a gender perspective and of Linda Nochlins essay Why have there been no great women artists? This to help with looking after what kind of social barriers or resistance is visible in these art critics reviews.                                                                  The results of the biographical comparison showed many similarities and some differences. Such as them both studying in Paris after their education in the Swedish Art academy and both frequently traveled back and forth to stay in France for as long as possible. Eventually Julia Beck moved to France and stayed there until her death. While Maj Bring lived her entire life in Sweden and started an art school in Stockholm and paused her artist career for a while. Meanwhile Julia Beck dedicated her entire life to her artistic career. In the results of the analysis, you could clearly see several kinds of resistance to both the female art and the female artists. They were very much treated differently than their male colleagues. For example, in Paris there were specific places where the female artists showed their art. The critique reviews often explained the female art with female qualities and said that female artist had specific characteristics that made them more qualified in specific areas that was thought women belonged too.

This essay examines how family-related violence was depicted in art in Sweden during the 70s, 80s and 90s. A major shift in the views of violence within the family and in relationships occurs during this period, which becomes evident through a change in laws but is also visible in an ongoing social debate. Basing my research on a number of works by female artists, depicting violence, I have analysed ways of interpreting and understanding the violence in these images, in relation to the changed views on family, gender roles and violence. The female perspective on violence is often the same as the perspective of the violated, and I have chosen to study female artists, thus assuming that a changed attitude is most clearly reflected in this group.The artists included in the study are Marie-Louise Ekman, Marja Ruta, Kristina Abelli Elander, Maria Lindberg, Maria Friberg and Monica Larsen Dennis, Helene Billgren, Tuija Lindström, Charlotte Gyllenhammar, Anna-Maria Ekstrand and Annika von Hausswolff.The works are grouped into four categories based on a model created by Gregory H. Stanton, which he developed in the survey of genocide. His model depicts ten stages in which violence slowly increases. My division is in four stages and is named structural violence, embodied acts of violence or abuse, crime victims or traces of crime, and consequences of violence. Seen over the period covered by the study, one can observe an increase in the number of images with violent content. The depictions change from being political messages to becoming more provocative and questioning power structures. This is a development which is happening simultaneously with the breakthrough of postmodern art.The artists have in several works been influenced by or relate to images of violence shown in news media and popular culture, a genre that grows during the 1980s home video epoch. But the art not only interacts with other visual media, it also wants to involve the viewer by exploring and questioning values and hierarchies in society.The girl as a symbol of an innocent victim is represented in several of the works, and the girls are given a much greater freedom of action in the artworks than in reality. A concealed aggression is made visible and in several of the works the girls act violators.Depiction of violence has not been treated as a theme or categorized as a separate genre in the arts. To the extent that I have found analyses of works containing violence in the arts, there has been a hesitative attitude and the images have been perceived as simple in a communicative or interpretive aspect. In my study, I come to another conclusion, Seeing that the processing of violence in the artistic works creates a counter-image to stereotypical and simplified images in media and and so helps us to see the normative values, power imbalances, behaviours and expectations that are often the basis for acts of violence.