Rum för reflektion : Om sjukrummet i det nordiska måleriet mot 1800-talets slut
(2026)- Abstract
- This dissertation examines the intense presence of the encounter with a number of artworks depicting sickrooms painted by Nordic artists by the end of the nineteenth century. To understand the intense presence enhanced through the encounter with these artworks, this dissertation argues that these paintings can be understood and examined as secular devotional images. Particular attention is devoted to works by Edvard Munch, Helene Schjerfbeck, Christian Krohg, Ejnar Nielsen, Georg Pauli, Eva Bonnier and Carl Larsson.
The lens of this dissertation is indebted to theoretical perspectives emphasising the encounter with the artwork. Thus, it accounts for the aesthetic reception as well as interpretations that result from different art... (More) - This dissertation examines the intense presence of the encounter with a number of artworks depicting sickrooms painted by Nordic artists by the end of the nineteenth century. To understand the intense presence enhanced through the encounter with these artworks, this dissertation argues that these paintings can be understood and examined as secular devotional images. Particular attention is devoted to works by Edvard Munch, Helene Schjerfbeck, Christian Krohg, Ejnar Nielsen, Georg Pauli, Eva Bonnier and Carl Larsson.
The lens of this dissertation is indebted to theoretical perspectives emphasising the encounter with the artwork. Thus, it accounts for the aesthetic reception as well as interpretations that result from different art historical contexts that spring from the encounter with the artwork. In addition, the structure of this lens is created through a contextual understanding of how devotional images emerging towards the Late Middle Ages functioned. By breaking down these images, a thematic emphasising empathy, fragments, memory, light and time is enhanced and further explored in relation to conditions tied to the late nineteenth century as well as to the after history of a number of artworks. Overall, this dissertation is framed by a narrative that concerns the tension between the individual and something beyond the individual including conditions such as togetherness, loneliness, solitude and vulnerability. This framework is further developed through two interwoven steps: First, a more extensive material is approached that examines the stories embedded in and created through the encounter with the sickroom. Second, seven case studies follow in which a postcritical reading is applied to expand the comprehension for the encounter with the painted sickroom.
This dissertation results in methodological contributions to art historiography that combine aesthetic and critical perspectives, enhancing rich readings that convey the many nuances in and tied to the artworks in this dissertation through their after history. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/97784d5c-c6a4-4c15-b84b-8aae5f39e0ea
- author
- Preisler, Petra LU
- supervisor
- opponent
-
- professor Kollnitz, Andrea, Stockholms universitet
- organization
- publishing date
- 2026-03-20
- type
- Thesis
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- secular devotional images, encauntering the artwork, empathy, attentiveness, pensive images, mental images, sickroom, postcritical reading, after history, Nordic art, Art history
- pages
- 319 pages
- publisher
- Department of Arts and Cultural Sciences, Lund University
- defense location
- sal C121, LUX, Helgonavägen 3, Lund
- defense date
- 2026-04-17 13:15:00
- ISBN
- 978 91 7247 812 1
- 978 91 7247 807 7
- language
- Swedish
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 97784d5c-c6a4-4c15-b84b-8aae5f39e0ea
- date added to LUP
- 2026-03-18 10:53:48
- date last changed
- 2026-03-23 17:07:42
@phdthesis{97784d5c-c6a4-4c15-b84b-8aae5f39e0ea,
abstract = {{This dissertation examines the intense presence of the encounter with a number of artworks depicting sickrooms painted by Nordic artists by the end of the nineteenth century. To understand the intense presence enhanced through the encounter with these artworks, this dissertation argues that these paintings can be understood and examined as secular devotional images. Particular attention is devoted to works by Edvard Munch, Helene Schjerfbeck, Christian Krohg, Ejnar Nielsen, Georg Pauli, Eva Bonnier and Carl Larsson. <br/><br/>The lens of this dissertation is indebted to theoretical perspectives emphasising the encounter with the artwork. Thus, it accounts for the aesthetic reception as well as interpretations that result from different art historical contexts that spring from the encounter with the artwork. In addition, the structure of this lens is created through a contextual understanding of how devotional images emerging towards the Late Middle Ages functioned. By breaking down these images, a thematic emphasising empathy, fragments, memory, light and time is enhanced and further explored in relation to conditions tied to the late nineteenth century as well as to the after history of a number of artworks. Overall, this dissertation is framed by a narrative that concerns the tension between the individual and something beyond the individual including conditions such as togetherness, loneliness, solitude and vulnerability. This framework is further developed through two interwoven steps: First, a more extensive material is approached that examines the stories embedded in and created through the encounter with the sickroom. Second, seven case studies follow in which a postcritical reading is applied to expand the comprehension for the encounter with the painted sickroom. <br/><br/>This dissertation results in methodological contributions to art historiography that combine aesthetic and critical perspectives, enhancing rich readings that convey the many nuances in and tied to the artworks in this dissertation through their after history.}},
author = {{Preisler, Petra}},
isbn = {{978 91 7247 812 1}},
keywords = {{secular devotional images; encauntering the artwork; empathy; attentiveness; pensive images; mental images; sickroom; postcritical reading; after history; Nordic art; Art history}},
language = {{swe}},
month = {{03}},
publisher = {{Department of Arts and Cultural Sciences, Lund University}},
school = {{Lund University}},
title = {{Rum för reflektion : Om sjukrummet i det nordiska måleriet mot 1800-talets slut}},
year = {{2026}},
}