Sigrid Hjertén, Ateljéinteriör [Studio Interior}, 1916 © Sigrid Hjertén

What is the gender distribution in Swedish art museum collections?

Does it differ regionally and for different kinds of assignments? How is it influenced by a museum’s self-image?

On the basis of extensive statistics, this report examines the 20th century art at Göteborgs konstmuseum, Malmö Konstmuseum, Norrköpings Konstmuseum and Moderna Museet in Stockholm. These are four important museums with different orientations and regional identities. One key issue in the study is whether the differences between the museums have impacted on the number of woman artists represented in their collections. Do all museums highlight the same artists? Moreover, the report discusses the gender structures at the museums in the study, at other Swedish art museums, and in society in general.

Four external scholars participated in the project: Eva Zetterman, PhD, studied the Göteborg konstmuseum collection, Linda Fagerström, PhD, studied Malmö Konstmuseum, Andrea Kollnitz, PhD, focused on Norrköpings Konstmuseum, and Martin Sundberg, PhD, looked at the Moderna Museet collection. The project was supervised by Anna Tellgren (curator and research leader at Moderna Museet) and Jeff Werner (head of research at Göteborgs konstmuseum and professor of art history at Stockholm University). In addition to these scholars, the project team included Annika Gunnarsson (curator at Moderna Museet), Helena Persson (director of Norrköpings Konstmuseum) and Marika Reuterswärd (curator at Malmö Konstmuseum).

Representation och regionalitet. Genusstrukturer i fyra svenska konstmuseisamlingar (Representation and Regionality. Gender structures in four Swedish museum collections) is included in the Swedish Arts Councils publication series Kulturpolitisk forskning.

Published 7 November 2015 · Updated 29 February 2024