Boys on the beach 

Eugène Jansson created this scene of ‘Boys on the Beach’, but we don’t know exactly when. Jansson was Swedish but spent his entire career in Stockholm. He became famous for his paintings of the city at night, but he also painted daylight scenes. These boys, who might be working class, are at leisure; some are drying themselves, some are dressing, and one is diving into the Baltic sea. In much of Europe, during the late 19th century, sea bathing became more popular. In Sweden, seaside resorts became important locations for different social classes to meet one another. Jansson painted other scenes of men bathing: his paintings present an image of the male nude as an emblem of health and freedom, but also, at times, with an undercurrent of homoerotic desire. To understand this painting more fully, we can consider the historical geography of Stockholm, and the social history of sea-bathing. We can also research changing attitudes towards the display of the nude in the art of this period. The meaning of art is contingent on social and institutional context.