Göteborgs konstmuseum | The Canon: Perspectives on Swedish Art Historiography

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Here we present web exhibitions, some of which are, or have been, displayed at the museum, and some that are exclusively created for the web. A web exhibition comprises a text plus a list of works. From the list of works, you can click to the searchable database. This page will be updated continuously as new, differently themed web exhibitions become available.

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The Canon: Perspectives on Swedish Art Historiography

Art history, as presented in encyclopaedic works and museum displays, was long regarded as a self-evident selection of the most outstanding works of art. This selection is called the canon. In recent decades, not only the question of which artists and works should be included, but the very concept of the art historical narrative have been challenged. The canon is the focus of a research project and a track through the museum collection.

Based on the collections and history of the Gothenburg Museum of Art and Norrköpings Konstmuseum, the research project The Canon: Perspective on Swedish Art Historiography investigates how a canon of Swedish art history was created and how it has been transformed. The Swedish canon of art history and its boundaries are discussed with some illustrative examples. How has an art collector and patron, two influential museum directors and a Düsseldorf painter influenced our perception of artistic quality? How has the position of naïvism and traditional figurative painting been valued within modernism?

In connection with the research project, a track has been created through the collection. This web tour illuminates a selection of works in the museum based on the perspectives discussed in the research project. Visitors are invited to see both familiar and unknown works in a new light. What role have these works played in the museum’s history? What position do they have in the cannon? The examples in this tour offer varying perspectives on the Swedish canon and the museum’s role in its creation and maintenance.

Click on the artworks to the right to find texts about the works. The texts can be found under the tab "Description" and are marked /The Canon: Perspectives on Swedish Art Historiography/.

The Canon: Perspectives on Swedish Art Historiography is a research project carried out by the Gothenburg Museum of Art in collaboration with Norrköpings Konstmuseum and the University of Gothenburg. The project is published in the tenth issue of the museum’s publication series Skiascope.

Works