The overall purpose of this project was to analyse in what way the anti-Semitic stereotypes of the “Jewish” artist has had an influence on the contemporary art field as well as the historiography of Swedish modernism. The focus was on how anti-Semitic stereotypes were used in describing Grünewald, in what way anti-Semitism had an influence on Grünewald’s self-identification, and in what way the conceptions about him has changed or remained unchanged over time. The project was based on two studies. The first study follows how ideas about Grünewald’s character and artistic project were constructed in the contemporary reception, and his self-identification, such as it was expressed in for example his self portraits. These conceptions and self-identifications were analysed in relation to anti-Semitic preconceptions about the Jewish artist. This first study was intended to function as a foundation for the second study, a historiographical investigation of the influence on anti-Semitism on Swedish art history in general and the historiography on Grünewald in particular. In the original plan the first study was intended as partly a base for the second historiographical study, partly resulting in an independent study of Isaac Grünewald’s self-identification analysing his self--portraits. In relation to this original plan the project has been accomplished partly with a limitation in the empirical material, partly in another order of priority than planed.

The foremost result from the project is that the salon anti-Semitism of the early 20th century Sweden has had a clear influence on later Swedish art historiography. Around 1930 and the following decades the basic preconceptions about a Jewish artist, as Isaac Grünewald, entered into the normal art history with only changes in rhetoric. Of central importance here is to not focus on questions whether the studied individuals are anti-Semites or not, but instead focus on the function of their texts and its relation to the anti-Semitic discourse. In my analysis of later texts about Günewald I follow how the basic characterizations of him as person and artist remain the same but are explained on different grounds, from a pure racial thinking to socio-psychological explanations. The wide range of texts published about Grünewald has proven itself an excellent material to investigate the handling of anti-Semitic preconceptions from early 20th century until 2015. It has also proven itself as an excellent source for understanding how research interest within Swedish art history changed the way Grünewald was characterised as artist and person. My investigations show clearly how the emerging feminist art history has displaced Grünewald’s role in the historiography to be about his predomination over his wife Sigrid Hjertén instead of his predomination and arrogant acting on the art field (as these preconceptions often has been described).

The project has not only resulted in new questions related to Isaac Grünewald but also about the relation between art criticism, popularisations and scholarly work. Very much of the ideas about Grünewald and the historiography that has been established have their origin in other contexts than in an academic one, and the published scholarly works have had minor influence one the broader understanding and knowledge about Grünewald. Questions appear about our possibility as scholars to influence the general popular historiography. The project has also raised questions about identity and self-identification and how this kind of questions can be investigated from a historiographical perspective in analysis of biographies. This has led me into a still unfinished investigation of Grünewald’s self-portraits. I have been able to see and document a large number of self-portraits by Grünewald in private collections, of which several never has been exhibited or reproduced before. This material belongs to the part of the project I still haven’t been able to finish. The reason is that the material turned out to be much more extensive than anticipated and can hardly be sufficient covered in an article (which was the original plan), but instead will be published in the format of a book, which is the project I am currently working on.

Through an article published in an international journal the project has been corresponding with the international research in the field. As an example of the relation between anti-Semitism and modernism historiography in a country that has been neutral during the 20th century and never involved in the first and second world war, my analysis is internationally of great interest for comparative studies.

The project has resulted in a paper presented at the conference ”The Avant-Gardes in the Nordic Countries 1925-1950: History, Culture and Aesthetics”, Oct. 3-4 2013, Copenhagen University. The project was presented at the department of Art History and Forum för judiska studier, Uppsala University, May 22 2014. The project has also been presented twice at the higher seminar in Art History and Visual studies at Lund University, May 21 and Nov. 12 2015. Also a popular article based on the result from the project has been written and will bee published in autumn 2017. In that article result from my research about Grünewald’s self-identification as Jewish artist based in his self-portraits and the difficulties as artist in an anti-Semitic society is discussed. To the public outreach we can also count my participation in a event arranged by the Royal Swedish Academy of Music at the Concert Hall in Stockholm about Isaac Grünewald and Moses Pergamet on April 11 2016.

The project has so far resulted in one publication in the internationally leading journal in the field Journal of Art Historiography with the title “The Jewish Modernist: Isaac Grünewald in Bertel Hintze’s Art History”. In that article I analyse how the saloon anti-Semitism enters into the established art historiography around 1930 and its consequences for later historiography. An article with the working title “Who was Isaac Grünewald? Or how to get lost among all biographies” is in its final preparation for publication. The article is about how Grünewald is characterized in the so far published biographies about him, its relations to anti-Semitic preconceptions and the different ways of explaining his character.

The original plan was that the project would result in two peer review-articles in international journals. The so far published article is in the international Journal of Art Historiography, which is an open access journal. The not yet published popular article, will be published in the antology “Swedish Art History: A Selection of Introductory Texts”, (ed. Ludwig Qvarnström), also open access. The article “Who was Isaac Grünewald? Or how to get lost among all biographies”, will during spring 2017 be submitted to an international journal to be published open access.

Publication:

”The Jewish Modernist: Isaac Grünewald in Bertel Hintze’s Art History”, Journal of Art Historiography, Dec 2016, Issue 15, pp 1-22