The aim of this study was to examine Swedish hiphop-artists’ view on conditions in the suburbs and to find out what their music represent, and to reach an understanding about whether social movements exist in suburbs. The study was based on qualitative interviews with hiphop-artists’ whose music had a connection to suburbs. The artists had different ages, gender and residential area. Six of the interviews were conducted through video calls and one of them through a physical interview. The questions were made up through a framework before the interviews and our choice of interview approach enabled us to ask additional questions. The result showed that the conditions in the suburbs were characterized by community and love. It also showed that residents had difficulties because of their life choices and it affected their possibilities regarding to school and work. Further the hiphop-artists’ music was described as a reality portrayal or as a way to express their feelings. Some of them also felt responsible as role models, wanted to affect others, had the music as an interest and some just wanted to convey real experiences. The analysis was based on Eyerman and Jamison (2005) perspective about social movements, which means that a group collectively joins and acts to change existing conflicts and problems in society. As a conclusion the hiphop-artists’ experience racism from the society which affect them and their music. Another conclusion is that it exists a social movement in the suburbs and can be understood by the hiphop-artists’ descriptions of the suburbs conditions.

This thesis analyses the public art competitions arranged by the Public Art Agency Sweden (Statens konstråd) 1937-1970 and the discussions about public art competitions in within the art field of the 1940’s, -50’ and -60’s. The main material for this analysis has been the protocols of the Public Art Agency and the annual paper of the Swedish Artists' National Organization (Konstnärernas riksorganisation). The theoretical and methodological framework is based on Pierre Bourdieu’s understanding of the art field, and institutions as agents within that field. I also use Foucauldian discourse theory as another theoretical tool to understand the power relations between these institutions in the art field. My aim has been to understand why there were competitions for public art commissions – the purposes, the processes, the discussions and how these factors change over the decades. The purpose for public art competition can be understood through the ideology of the Swedish welfare state and the cultural policy of the Social Democratic government in the 1930’s. The public art competitions could support the Swedish artists economically, but was also a way for the Swedish Government, through the Public Art Agency, to control and guarantee that the public artworks were of high artistic quality. This idea of artistic quality became more and more dominant as a purpose for the competitions through the 1950’s and 1960’s.  The artists active in the Swedish Artists' National Organization found the competitions to be of great importance and the competitions were much discussed in the organisations annual paper. Many of the artists that discussed the artist competitions were of the same generation born in the 1910’s or 1920’s and were working with public art commissions to a great extent. For them, the public art competitions gave recognition and a possible income. My analysis also shows that the public art competitions were also connected to the concept of modernism. The status of the competitions changed along with the changing concept of modernism. The competition was at its highest status in the 1930’s and 1940’s, when many artists were engaged in public art commissions. It became less popular among young artists in the 1960’s, when the art field was more politically radical and critical against authorities.

Abstract This study concerns the Swedish artist Roj Friberg (1934–2016). The essay is based on a study of technique and materiality used by Friberg. He is quite marginalized and slightly forgotten in the Swedish art history and when mentioned merely described as a painter from the 1960´s who used graphite mixed with French turpentine, in order to work on the surface with an eraser attached to an electric drill. However, Friberg used other different and more complex painting techniques in his work, something this essay will notice and highlight. The used method is a biographical, dealing with the references to Friberg. To explain why he was considered an “outsider” in Swedish art, the theory of social capital by Pierre Bourdieu is applied. Also, Wolfgang Kemps concept of reception history, which focus on the arts beholder, rather than the artists itself. From the middle of 1970 Friberg also used an ancient painting technique called encaustic, heated beeswax mixed with pigment. Paintings which have received very little attention; therefore, the focus is on his use of encaustic in combination with his other techniques, such as melted graphite, melted wax crayons or drawn with wax crayons and graphite. The work with lasered layers and the typical method of working from darkness to light in Friberg´s pictures shows resemblance with the ancient encaustic portraits from Fayum, in the 50 AD.

En av 1800-talets främsta franska konstnärer Eugène Delacroix fick stor betydelse för de nya konstriktningarna under senare hälften av 1800-talet. I Frankrike står han som symbol för konstnärlig frigörelse, för sin långa och envetna kamp mot den franska konstakademin där "les Artistes Indépendants" fortsatte kampen efter honom, vilket ledde till en brytning med akademin år 1884. I samtida internationell forskning har Delacroix betydelse för den moderna konstens utveckling betonats. Syftet med denna magisteruppsats har varit att med formal stilanalys studera influenser från Delacroix måleri i verk med anknytning till det svenska Konstnärsförbundet, som bildades år 1886 i opposition mot och brytning med den svenska konstakademin. Konstnärsförbundet  kom att få stor betydelse för den unga svenska modernismen. Konstnären Richard Bergh var i det svenska kulturlivet tongivande för den svenska konstens förnyelse med den franska unga konsten som förebild. Som konstnärlig ledare för Konstnärsförbundets skolor åren 1890-1908 införde han individuell frihet för eleverna, ljus-och färgstudier inspirerat av Delacroix och neoimpressionismen. Teoretiska utgångspunkter för uppsatsen har varit M.E. Chevreuls lagar om simultan färgkontrast och Paul Signacs analys av Delacroix betydelse för impressionismen till neoimpressionismen. Fantasins roll för att skapa ett själsligt berörande måleri har diskuterats utifrån Charles Baudelaires konstkritik, Delacroix Dagbok och Gauguins symbolism från 1884. För den formala analysen har konstbilder av Richard Bergh, Olof Sager-Nelson, Ivan Aguéli och Isaac Grünewald analyserats med avseende på komplementära färgkompositioner, ljusreflexioner, färger och ljus i belysning och skuggor. Dessa konstnärer har valts ut då de alla på olika sätt representerar ett personligt och nydanande måleri och en konst som fortfarande berör. Sammanfattningsvis visar resultaten att alla konstnärerna praktiserat komplementära färgkompositioner, effekter av simultan färgkontrast och att ljuset haft central betydelse för dem alla. Ljuset har artikulerats såväl i ljus inomhus som utomhus i himmelsljuset, i speglingar, skarpa och diffusa ljusreflexioner, varmare färger i solbelysta delar och kallare i skuggor. Den formala analysen visar att Delacroix måleri med komplementära färgkompositioner otvetydigt kan spåras i de verk som analyserats i uppsatsen. Alla konstnärerna har också strävat efter och lyckats att skapa ett själsligt berörande måleri. Delacroix tankar och måleri kan därför sägas ha bidragit till det svenska måleriets förnyelse genom Konstnärsförbundet. / One of the foremost French artists of the 19th century, Eugène Delacroix stands as a symbol of liberation, for his long and determined struggle against the French Academy of Arts, where the continued struggle of the "Artistes Indépendants" led to a break in 1884. The Swedish Artists´Association was formed in 1886 in opposition to the Swedish Academy of Arts. In Sweden, the artist Richard Bergh set the tone for the renewal of Swedish art. As artistic director of the Artists´Association´s schools in the years 1890-1908, he introduced individual freedom for the students, light and colour studies inspired by Delacroix and the neo-impressionism. In contemporary art history, Delacroix´s importance for the development of modern art has been emphasized. The aim of this master thesis is to use formal style analysis to study influences from Delacroix´s painting in some works of Swedish artists connected to the Swedish Artists´Association´s schools. Art images by Richard Bergh, Olof Sager-Nelson, Ivan Aguéli, and Isaac Grünewald have been analysed for complementary colour compositions, light reflections, colours and light in lighting and in shadows.  Theoretical starting points have been M.E. Chevreul´s Law of Light Reflections and Simultaneous Colour Contrast and Paul Signac´s analysis of the importance of Delacroix painting in relation to the neo-impressionism. To highlight the artist´s desire to touch the viewer, Baudelaire´s art criticism, Delacroix´s Diary, and Gauguins´s symbolism from 1884 have been considered. The results show that all the artists practiced complementary colour compositions, effects of simultaneous colour contrast, and that light was of central importance to all of them. The light has been articulated both in light indoors and outdoors in the sky, in reflections, sharp and diffuse light refelctions, warmer colours in sunlit parts and colder in shadows. All the artists have also strived for and succeeding in creating a soul-touching painting. Delacroix´s thoughts and painting can therefore be said to have unequivocally contributed to the renewal of Swedish painting through the Swedish Artists´ Association.