DOI issue:
Nr. 3-4
DOI article:Behr, Shulamith: Differencing modernism: Swedish women artists in early twentieth-century avant-garde culture
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.49349#0475
DlFFERENCING MoDERNISM: SwEDISH WoMEN ARTISTS IN AVANT-GARDE CULTURE
461
8. S. Derkert: Children around a Table 1927, oil on canvas, Private
Collection
It is revealing that socialists regarded avant-garde efforts to model life around art as
equivalent to their policies of reform. Between 1918 and 1921, Derkert also designed and
marketed fashion-ware for the Birgitta School when she returned to Stockholm (see ill. 7).
While this was equally the consequence of economic necessity, her engagement in the
world of fashion was symptomatic both of modern female identity and of their interaction
with consumer culture.39
These artists' positioning of their femininity in relation to modernity extended to repre-
sentations of their children in the domestic sphere. In numerous works of this period
Hjerten repeatedly depicted her son, Ivan, as model and as the object of much indulgence
by his parents. Clothed in his fashionable sailor suit, his image adorns various portrayals
of the studio interior. From a sociological viewpoint, these works reveal much about the
effects of birth control on family life and of the upbringing of the single child. As in Ellen
Key's recommendations outlined above, discipline is non-evident, primacy being given to
the child's individuality and stages of development. Derkert turned to portrayals of her
children during the 1920s and 1930s, her Barn kring bord of 1927 (ill. 8) including depic-
tions of her three children ,Carlo, Liv and Sara. While the features of the figures are largely
generalised, the psychological relationship between the siblings is stressed, by virtue of
their positioning in the shallow, light-filled space. All in all, the atmosphere is hauntingly
modern.
For Vera Nilsson, the birth of her child, Catharina, in 1922 signalled a change in her
independent life style. Though her daughter served as a model close at hand, one can
detect as well an invention of a tradition that was to dominate Nilsson's oeuvre. In her
39 This is expanded on by M. CARLGREN, 'Marginaliserad modernism. Siri Derkert som kladskapare och modeteck-
ningen som estetisk objekt', magisteruppsats, Lunds universitet, passed in 1999.
461
8. S. Derkert: Children around a Table 1927, oil on canvas, Private
Collection
It is revealing that socialists regarded avant-garde efforts to model life around art as
equivalent to their policies of reform. Between 1918 and 1921, Derkert also designed and
marketed fashion-ware for the Birgitta School when she returned to Stockholm (see ill. 7).
While this was equally the consequence of economic necessity, her engagement in the
world of fashion was symptomatic both of modern female identity and of their interaction
with consumer culture.39
These artists' positioning of their femininity in relation to modernity extended to repre-
sentations of their children in the domestic sphere. In numerous works of this period
Hjerten repeatedly depicted her son, Ivan, as model and as the object of much indulgence
by his parents. Clothed in his fashionable sailor suit, his image adorns various portrayals
of the studio interior. From a sociological viewpoint, these works reveal much about the
effects of birth control on family life and of the upbringing of the single child. As in Ellen
Key's recommendations outlined above, discipline is non-evident, primacy being given to
the child's individuality and stages of development. Derkert turned to portrayals of her
children during the 1920s and 1930s, her Barn kring bord of 1927 (ill. 8) including depic-
tions of her three children ,Carlo, Liv and Sara. While the features of the figures are largely
generalised, the psychological relationship between the siblings is stressed, by virtue of
their positioning in the shallow, light-filled space. All in all, the atmosphere is hauntingly
modern.
For Vera Nilsson, the birth of her child, Catharina, in 1922 signalled a change in her
independent life style. Though her daughter served as a model close at hand, one can
detect as well an invention of a tradition that was to dominate Nilsson's oeuvre. In her
39 This is expanded on by M. CARLGREN, 'Marginaliserad modernism. Siri Derkert som kladskapare och modeteck-
ningen som estetisk objekt', magisteruppsats, Lunds universitet, passed in 1999.