| Summary: | Innehåll/Content: Elsa Beskow was an artist and a writer who for 50 years, from the turn of the 19th century, produced a wide variety of books for children. The books have been read for several generations and are translated into multiple languages, and they are still released and appreciated. This essay is based on literature studies and several different art scientific image analysis on selected paintings from Elsa Beskow picture books. The aim is to investigate how the children and their environments are portrayed in her picture books. The theoretical approach assumes that it is possible to preform image analysis on picture book paintings. In the analysis, Beskow’s contemporary theoretical ideas about children, education and also later feminist theory have been taken into account. The methodical approach is based on different image analysis as formal and style analysis according to Wölfflin, iconographic and iconological analysis according to Panofsky, semiotic analys according to Barthes and feminist image analysis or analysis from a gender perspective. The paintings that are analysed are from Children from the Forest, The Flowers’ Festival, The Children of Hat Cottage, Emily and Daisy and Petter and Lotta’s Christmas. The results of my analysis focused on how the children's environments are portrayed. For the showing, the environments are divided into multiple categories: the physical environment (country and city, exteriors and interiors), the family situation (different family constellations), children's education and schooling including ethics and morals, norms and values, the food situation and realism were set against fantasy. The comparison of the analytical methods provided that the formal and style analysis are appropriate to use on picture book paintings, as well as the description and interpretation of the iconographic analysis. The results demonstrated that iconological and semiotic analysis, respectively, were possible but not optimal. Analysis from a gender perspective was suitable. Lastly, the literature studies gave insight into how much of Elsa Beskow's life is reflected in her books.
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