METTLE AND MODERNITY: Courageous women artists of the 20th century
5 October - 9 February 2014
The exhibition presents female avant-garde artists who searched for new ways to express themselves and who often took greater risks than their male colleagues when questioning traditional artistic concepts. Their work was often criticised for the very fact that they were created by women. Several women artists were in the forefront of new thinking and experimentation; today many of them are forgotten.
The women artists of early 20th century modernism not only fought against the general view of art and what it should look like, they also had to contend with their male colleagues, who were afraid of the competition, and a prevailing notion that women were not supposed to create art. They were welcome to enrol at art schools and academies but when they wanted to pursue a professional career there were very few opportunities available. If a woman were to succeed in the artistic avant-garde, she needed both courage and curiosity.
Comprising works from 1900-1945 by some 30 artists, the exhibition explores individual bodies of work and the ways in which the Swedish art scene was influenced by currents in the European art world, with a special focus on Germany and Russia.
The exhibition includes works by, among others, Ester Almqvist, Anna Berg, Maja Braathen, Maj Bring, Anna Casparsson, Agnes Cleve- Jonand, Siri Derkert, Mollie Faustman, Malin Gyllenstierna, Elli Hemberg, Sigrid Hjertén, Tora Vega Holmström, Agda Holst, Greta Knutson-Tzara, Lucie Lagerbielke, Tyra Lundgren, Siri Meyer, Judith Molard, Gabriele Münter, Vera Nilsson, Brita Nordencreutz, Ragnhild Nordensten, Siri Ratchman, Anna Riwkin, Lilly Rydström, Ninnan Santesson, Elsa Ström-Ciacelli, Elsa Thorén, Maria Vassilijeff and Nell Walden.