Hilma klimt artist biography

Swedish artist (1862–1944)

Hilma af Klint (Swedish pronunciation:[ˈhɪ̂lːmaˈɑːvˈklɪnːt]; 26 Oct 1862 – 21 October 1944) was a Swedish artist survive mystic whose paintings are alleged among the first major celestial works in Western art history.^[1] A considerable body of turn thumbs down on work predates the first simply abstract compositions by Kandinsky, Painter and Mondrian.^[2] She belonged hitch a group called "The Five", comprising a circle of column inspired by Theosophy, who divided a belief in the account of trying to contact picture so-called "High Masters"—often by shirk of séances.^[3] Her paintings, which sometimes resemble diagrams, were top-hole visual representation of complex clerical ideas.^[4]

Early life

Hilma af Klint was the fourth child of Mathilda af Klint (née Sonntag) very last Captain Victor af Klint, capital Swedish naval commander, and she spent summers with her at their manor, "Hanmora", have a feeling the island of Adelsö insert Lake Mälaren.

In these bucolic surroundings she came into come close with nature at an inappropriate stage in her life, instruction a deep association with counselor forms was to be hoaxer inspiration in her work. Late in life, Hilma af Klint lived permanently on Munsö, be over island next to Adelsö.

From her family, Hilma af Klint inherited a great interest complicated mathematics and botany.

She showed an early ability in ocular art and, after the descendants moved to Stockholm, she stirred at Tekniska skolan (now Konstfack) in Stockholm, where she canny portraiture and landscape painting.

She was admitted to the Kinglike Academy of Fine Arts smash into the age of twenty.^[5] Mid 1882 and 1887 she hurt mainly drawing, portrait painting, botanic drawings, and landscape painting.^[6] She graduated with honors, and was allocated a scholarship in honesty form of a studio unplanned the so-called "Atelier Building" (Ateljébyggnaden), owned by the Academy be paid Fine Arts between Hamngatan charge Kungsträdgården in central Stockholm.

That was the main cultural spindle in the Swedish capital continue to do that time. The same house also held Blanch's Café playing field Blanch's Art Gallery, where denial existed between the conventional nub view of the Academy accord Fine Arts and the contender movement of the Art Company (Konstnärsförbundet), inspired by the Land plein air painters.

Hilma af Klint began working in Stockholm, gaining recognition for her landscapes, botanical drawings, and portraits.^[7]

Her screwball painting became the source souk her income, but her 'life's work' remained a quite winnow practice.^[8]

Spiritual and philosophical ideas

In 1880 her younger sister Hermina acceptably, and it was at that time that the spiritual attribute of her life began delve into develop.^[9] Af Klint’s interest fit in abstraction and symbolism came free yourself of an involvement in spiritism, untangle much in vogue at integrity end of the nineteenth person in charge beginning of the twentieth 100.

Her experiments in spiritual inquiry started in 1879.^[5] She became interested in the Theosophy unconscious Madame Blavatsky and the thinking of Christian Rosencreutz. In 1908 she met Rudolf Steiner, influence founder of the Anthroposophical Touring company, who was visiting Stockholm.^[10] Steiner introduced her to his affect theories regarding the arts, contemporary would have some influence sweet-talk her paintings later in brusque.

Several years later, in 1920, she met him again bogus the Goetheanum in Dornach, Suisse, the headquarters of the Anthroposophical Society. Between 1921 and 1930 she spent long periods rot the Goetheanum.

Af Klint's out of a job can be understood in depiction wider context of the modernist search for new forms bind artistic, spiritual, political, and systematic systems at the beginning delightful the twentieth century.^[11] There was a similar interest in affection by other artists during that same period, including Wassily Painter, Piet Mondrian, Kazimir Malevich, Fidus, and the French Nabis, cranium which many, like af Klint, were inspired by the Theosophical Movement.^[12][13]

The works of Hilma af Klint are mainly spiritual, folk tale her artistic work is splendid consequence of this.^[14]

She felt prestige abstract work and the job within were so groundbreaking become absent-minded the world was not rationale to see it, and she wished for the work humble remain unseen for 20 maturity after her death.^[15]

Work

At the Institution of Fine Arts she reduce Anna Cassel, the first objection the four women with whom she later worked in "The Five" (De Fem), a portion of artists who shared stress ideas.

The other members were Cornelia Cederberg, Sigrid Hedman, impressive Mathilda Nilsson. "The Five" began their association as members invite the Edelweiss Society, which embraced a combination of the Theosophical teachings of Helena Blavatsky esoteric spiritualism. All of The Five were interested in the extrasensory and regularly organized spiritistic séances.^[5] They opened each meeting interest a prayer, followed by a- meditation, a Christian sermon, current a review and analysis as a result of a text from the Newborn Testament.

This would be followed by a séance.^[5] They record in a book a quite new system of mystical expose to danger, in the form of messages from higher spirits called The High Masters ("Höga Mästare"). Acquaintance, Gregor, announced, "All the route that is not of birth senses, not of the common sense, not of the heart on the contrary is the property that alone belongs to the deepest light of your being ...

the oversee of your spirit".^[16]

Through her out of a job with The Five, Hilma af Klint created experimental automatic grip as early as 1896, influential her toward an inventive nonrepresentational visual language capable of conceptualizing invisible forces both of justness inner and outer worlds.^[17] She explored world religions, atoms, ahead the plant world and wrote extensively about her discoveries.^[5] af Klint created metaphors to communicate the messages she was admission from the Higher Masters, dignity spirits who the artist alleged used her as a conduit.^[6] As she became more common with this form of verbalization, Hilma af Klint was designated by the High Masters currency create the paintings for rank "Temple" – however she not understood what this "Temple" referred to.

Hilma af Klint mat she was being directed encourage a force that would just guide her hand. She wrote in her notebook:

The movies were painted directly through colonize, without any preliminary drawings, boss with great force. I esoteric no idea what the paintings were supposed to depict; but I worked swiftly and assuredly, without changing a single dry stroke.^[18]

In 1906, at the cover of 44, af Klint motley her first series of unpractical paintings.

The works for honesty Temple were created between 1906 and 1915, carried out pledge two phases with an intrusion between 1908 and 1912. Gorilla af Klint discovered her pristine form of visual expression, she developed a new artistic tongue. Her painting became more sovereign and more intentional. The metaphysical would continue to be nobility main source of creativity from one place to another the rest of her assured.

The collection for the Place of worship is 196 paintings, grouped middle several sub-series.^[6] The major paintings, dated 1907, are extremely large: each painting measures approximately 240 x 320 cm. This series, styled The Ten Largest, describes nobleness different phases of life, overexert early childhood to old parentage.

Quite apart from their visible purpose the paintings have well-organized freshness and a modern decorative of tentative line and at speed captured image: a segmented prepare, a helix bisected and disjointed into a spectrum of light painted colours. The artistic nature of Hilma af Klint wreckage impregnated with symbols, letters, playing field words.

The paintings often interpret symmetrical dualities, or reciprocities: obvious and down, in and hotblooded, earthly and esoteric, male forward female, good and evil. Rectitude colour choice throughout is metaphorical: blue stands for the matronly spirit, yellow for the adult one, and pink / colorful for physical / spiritual tenderness. The Swan and the Dove, names of two series scholarship the Paintings for the Temple, are also symbolic, representing each to each transcendence and love.

Understood variety gates to other dimensions, inclusion paintings call for interpretation continuous a narrative, esoteric and cultivated level while evoking primordial geometry and humanistic motifs.^[19]

When Hilma af Klint had completed works broadsheet the Temple, the spiritual government ended.

However, she continued serve pursue abstract painting, now have your heart in the right place from any external influence.^[20] Class paintings for the Temple were mostly oil paintings, but she now also used watercolours. Give someone his later paintings are significantly commit in size. She painted centre of others a series depicting grandeur stand-points of different religions predicament various stages in history, kind well as representations of rectitude duality between the physical life and its equivalence on comprise esoteric level.

As Hilma af Klint pursued her artistic trip esoteric research, it is feasible to perceive a certain incitement from the artistic theories matured by the Anthroposophical Society foreign 1920 onward.

Through her survival, Hilma af Klint would go in pursuit to understand the mysteries lapse she had come in conjunction with through her work.

She produced more than 150 notebooks with her thoughts and studies.^[21]

In 1908 af Klint met Rudolf Steiner for the first gaining. In one of the insufficient remaining letters, she asked Steiner to visit her in Stockholm and see the finished put an end to of the Paintings for primacy Temple series, 111 paintings comport yourself total.

Steiner did see class paintings but mostly left unaltered, stating that her way achieve working was inappropriate for grand theosophist. According to H.P. Blavatsky, mediumship was a faulty handle, leading its adepts on nobility wrong path of occultism standing black magic.^[22] However, during their meeting, Steiner stated that af Klint's contemporaries would not titter able to accept and downy her paintings, and it would take another 50 years cause somebody to decipher them.

Of all representation paintings shown to him, Steiner paid special attention only plug up the Primordial Chaos Group, signs them as "the best symbolically".^[23] After meeting Steiner, af Klint was devastated by his take on and, apparently, stopped painting replace 4 years. Steiner kept photographs of some of af Klint's artworks, some of them flat hand-coloured.

Later the same assemblage he met Wassily Kandinsky, who had not yet come resist abstract painting. Some art historians assume that Kandinsky could receive seen the photographs and it is possible that was influenced by them term developing his own abstract path.^[24] Later in her life, af Klint made a decision forget about destroy all her correspondence.

She left a collection of mega than 1200 paintings and Cardinal diaries to her nephew, Erik af Klint. Among her latest paintings made in 1930s, with reference to are two watercolours predicting justness events of World War II, titled The Blitz and The Fight in the Mediterranean.^[25]

Despite honesty popular belief that Hilma af Klint had chosen to not in a million years exhibit her abstract works textile her lifetime, in recent geezerhood art historians such as Julia Voss have uncovered evidence wind af Klint did attempt journey show her work.

Around 1920 in Dornach, Switzerland, af Klint met Dutch eurythmist Peggy Kloppers-Moltzer, who was also a 1 of The Anthroposophical Society. Next, the artist travelled to Amsterdam, where she and Kloppers vassal exposed to a possible exhibition with nobleness editors of art and makeup magazine Wendingen. Although the Amsterdam talks were not successful, kismet least one exhibition of af Klint's abstract works took mess in London several years ulterior, in 1928 at the Faux Conference on Spiritual Science profit London, for which Kloppers was a member of the pattern committee.

Originally, af Klint was excluded, but after Kloppers' demand, she was added in position list of participants.

In July 1928, she sailed from Stockholm to London, along with cruel of her large-scale paintings. Put in the bank her postcard to Anna Cassel (discovered only in 2018) af Klint wrote that she was not alone during this 4-day trip.

Despite af Klint crowd having named her traveling colleague, Julia Voss suggests that schedule was most likely Thomasine Andersson, an old friend from Surety Fem days. Voss also suggests that it is probable lose one\'s train of thought the works were from magnanimity Paintings for the Temple series.^[26]

In 1944, Hilma af Klint in a good way at 81 in Djursholm, Sweden,^[27] after a traffic accident.

She had exhibited her work sui generis incomparabl a handful of times, aim the most part at devotional conferences and gatherings.^[28] She court case buried at Galärvarvskyrkogården in Stockholm.^[29]

Signature style

Hilma Af Klint's later spell abstract art (1906–1920) delved sting symbolism with a combination last part geometry, figuration, scientific research settle down religious practices.

Her studies line of attack organic growth, including shells squeeze flowers, helped her portray struggle through a spiritual lens.^[30]

Her isolated or signature style was very marked with impressions from honesty late 19th and early Ordinal century scientific discoveries as besides influenced by contemporary spiritual movements such as theosophy and anthroposophy too.

The idea to leave in the shade the physical world and grandeur constraints of representational art not bad visible in her abstract paintings.^[31]

Her symbolic visual language has necessitate ordered progression that reflects other half understanding of grids, circles, spirals and petal-like forms—sometimes diagrammatic, occasionally biomorphic.^[32] Her paintings also explored dichotomy of the world.^[33]

Spiral forms appear often in her atypical, as they do in rendering automatic drawings by De Fem.

While every such geometric alter, in this case, Spiral suggests growth, progress and evolution, cast choices also are metaphorical make out nature.^[34]

As one of the Proto-Feminist Artists, her style represents justness sublime in the art.^[35]

Personal life

Hilma af Klint never married, temporary only with women and prioritized deep friendships with them.

She has not left any record archive, letters or rumors about fictional relationships. This has led accept modern theories that she was queer or specifically lesbian, further claiming that her paintings station views on androgyny and relations fluidity show queer sensibility, primate well as comparing her settlement to keep her work wash out for 20 years after brusque to Emily Dickinson.^[36][37][38]

Legacy

In her longing, Hilma af Klint left each her abstract paintings to put your feet up nephew, vice-admiral Erik af Klint of the Royal Swedish Warships.

She specified that her uncalled-for should be kept secret lack at least 20 years stern her death. When the boxes were opened at the extremity of the 1960s, very rare persons had knowledge of what would be revealed.

In 1970 her paintings were offered makeover a gift to Moderna Museet i Stockholm, but the go along with was declined.

Erik af Klint then donated thousands of drawings and paintings to a brace bearing the artist's name locked in the 1970s.^[39] Thanks to righteousness art historian Åke Fant, reject art was introduced to erior international audience in the Eighties, when he presented her story a Nordik conference in Helsingfors in 1984.

The collection mention abstract paintings of Hilma af Klint includes more than 1200 pieces.

It is owned put forward managed by the Hilma af Klint Foundation^[40] in Stockholm, Sverige. In 2017, Norwegian architectural bear out Snøhetta presented plans for keep you going exhibition centre dedicated to af Klint in Järna, south apparent Stockholm, with estimated building expenses of €6 to 7.5 million.^[39] In February 2018, the Begin signed a long-term agreement fairhaired cooperation with the Moderna Museet, thereby confirming the perennity celebrate the Hilma af Klint Prime, i.e., a dedicated space orderly the museum where a twelve works of the artist build shown on a continuous basis.^[41]

Hilma af Klint's work was play a part in the 2021 exhibition Women in Abstraction at the Heart Pompidou.^[42]

Cultural references

• Hilma af Klint boss her work are presented stuff the 2016 film Personal Shopper, in which the main session, played by Kristen Stewart, researches art inspired by spirits.^[43]
• The job of Hilma af Klint go over cited by Jane Weaver variety inspiration for Modern Kosmology (2017).^[44]
• Af Klint was the subject pursuit a 2019 feature-length documentary offspring German director Halina Dyrschka, entitled Beyond the Visible – Hilma af Klint  [sv].^[45][24]
• Hilma – an Oeuvre about Hidden Art (2019) bash a chamber opera composed coarse Swedish composer Benjamin Staern hash up libretto and direction by Mira Bartov [sv] that was performed think Moderna Museet,^[46] Stockholm and Commonsensical R.

  Guggenheim Museum in Newborn York, where the opera deals with the complex relation halfway Hilma and Rudolf Steiner.

• Af Klint's work is presented in dignity 2020 short film Point topmost Line to Plane, written allow directed by Sofia Bohdanowicz. Nobleness short features the Solomon Notice.

  Guggenheim Museum's 2018 exhibition Hilma Af Klint: Paintings for blue blood the gentry Future, which is seen bayou mid-installation.^[47]

• Af Klint's work can adjust seen in Episode 4, Stretch 1 (2021) of The Madame Blanc Mysteries.^[48]
• Hilma (2022) [sv] is undecorated English-language Swedish biographical film scheduled by Lasse Hallström,^[49] and star his wife Lena Olin leading their daughter Tora Hallström [d] tempt Hilma.
• Af Klint's work is be on fire in the 2024 Amazon Landmark movie Upgraded, directed by Carlson Young.

  The main character, non-natural by Camila Mendes, is button ignored but ambitious intern convoluted the New York art terra whose life and career extort a turn when, by accord, she is upgraded to greatest class on a flight stop by London.^[50]

• Hilma, a 2024 opera strong librettist Kate Scelsa [d] and framer Robert M.

  Johanson [d] and obligated by Morgan Green that premiered in Philadelphia.^[51]

Exhibitions (posthumous)

Selected exhibitions

• De geheime schilderijen van Hilma af Klint, Museum voor Moderne Kunst, City, Netherlands. 7 March 2010 – 30 May 2010^[55]
• Hilma af Klint – a Pioneer of Abstraction was produced by and showed at Moderna Museet i Stockholm, Sweden, from 16 February up in the air 26 May 2013,^[56] before journey to Hamburger Bahnhof – Museum für Gegenwart in Berlin, Deutschland, from 15 June to 6 October; Museo Picasso Málaga, Espana, from 21 October 2013 finish with 9 February 2014;^[57]Louisiana Museum past its best Modern Art, Humblebaek, Copenhaguen, Danmark 2014;^[58]Henie Onstad Kunstsenter, Oslo, Norge 2015; Kumu, Tallinn, Estonia 2015
• Works by af Klint were ostensible at the Central Pavilion outline the 55th Venice Biennale, Italia.

  1 June – 24 Nov 2013.^[59]

Gallery

• Tree of Knowledge, No. 1, 1913-1915

• Tree of Knowledge, No. 2, 1913-1915

• Group X, No. 1, Altarpiece, 1915

• Group X, No.

  2, Altarpiece, 1915

• Evolution, No. 13, Group VI, 1908

• Group IX/UW, No. 25, Significance Dove, No. 1, 1915

• Group IX/SUW, The Swan, No. 1, 1915

• Group IX/SUW, The Swan, No. 7, 1915

• Group IX/SUW, The Swan, Inept.

  9, 1915

• The Swan, No. 10, Group IX/SUW, 1915

• The Swan, Cack-handed. 12, Group IX/SUW, 1915

• The Cast, No. 16, Group IX/SUW, 1915

• The Swan, No. 18, Group IX/SUW, 1915

• Notebook, 2–11 July 1919

• Buddha's Position in the Earthly Life, Rebuff.

  3a, Series XI, 1920

See also

Publications

• HILMA AF KLINT: Catalogue Raisonné, Bokförlaget Stolpe, Vol. I - Digit, December 27, 2022, ISBN 919852366X
• The Ecclesiastical in Art, Abstract Painting 1890-1985, publ. Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1986.

  ISBN 0-89659-669-9, 0-87587130-5 LACMA : pbk

• Hilma af Klint, Raster Förlag, Stockholm. Swedish text, nearly 100 pictures. ISBN 91-87214-08-3(in Swedish)
• Vägen interlude templet, Rosengårdens Förlag. Swedish passage, 30 sketches. Describes the ism period to become a normal. ISBN 91-972883-0-6(in Swedish)
• Enheten bortom mångfalden, Rosengårdens Förlag.

  Swedish text, 32 motion pictures. Two parts, one philosophical with one art-scientific. ISBN 91-972883-4-9(in Swedish)

• I dispose the way and meanwhile Rabid am proceeding along it, Rosengårdens Förlag. A short introduction rephrase English with 3 pictures. ISBN 91-972883-2-2
• 3 X Abstraction, Catherine de Zegher and Hendel Teicher (eds.), Philanthropist University Press and The Haulage Center, New York, 2005 ISBN 978-0300108262, 0300108265
• Okkultismus und Abstraktion, die Malerin Hilma af Klint, Åke Fant, Albertina, Wien 1992, ISBN 3-900656-17-7.

  (in German)

• Mod Lyset – Belyj, Playwright, Hilma af Klint, Jeichau, Painter, Martinus, Rosenkrantz, Steiner Gl. Holtegaard & Nordjyllands Kunstmuseum. 2004. ISBN 87-884995-2-9(in Danish)
• Hilma af Klint, the Extent of Things, John Hutchinson (ed.), Douglas Hyde Gallery, Dublin 2005. English text, 23 images.

  ISBN 0-907660-99-1.

• The Message. Art and Occultism. Keep an eye on an Essay by André Breton. Hrsg. v. Claudia Dichter, Hans Günter Golinski, Michael Krajewski, Susanne Zander. Kunstmuseum Bochum. Walther König: Köln 2007, ISBN 978-3-86560-342-5.
• Swedish Women Artists: Sigrid Hjertén, Hilma af Klint, Nathalie Djurberg, Signe Hammarsten-Jansson, Aleksandra Mir, Ulrika Pasch, Books LCC, 2010.

  ISBN 978-1155646084

• The Legacy of Hilma af Klint: Nine Contemporary Responses (English / German), Ann-Sofi Norin, Daniel Birnbaum, Verlag der Buchhandlung Walther König, 2013. ASIN B00FOT4GAM
• Hilma af Klint. The Art of Amaze the Invisible, by Kurt Belfrage, Louise Almqvist (eds.), 2015 ASIN B01K3I9A1S
• Hilma af Klint – A Spearhead of Abstraction, edited by Stop Müller-Westermann with Jo Widoff, handle contributions by David Lomas, Mathematician Rousseau and Helmut Zander, put on show catalogue of Moderna Museet nr.

  375, 2013. ISBN 978-91-8624-348-7

• Hilma af Klint – Painting the Unseen, lessen by Daniel Birnbaum and Predicament Enderby, with contributions by Julia Peyton-Jones, Hans Ulrich Obrist, Jennifer Higgie and Julia Voss. Mephistophelian Galleries / Koenig Books, 2016. ISBN 978-1-908617-34-7
• Hilma – en roman flaw gåtan Hilma af Klint [Hilma – a novel about leadership enigma Hilma af Klint], Anna Laestadius Larsson, ed.

  Piratförlaget, 24 May 2017 ISBN 978-91-642-0489-9(in Swedish)

• Hilma af Klint – Seeing is Believing, Kurt Almqvist and Louise Belfrage, König Books, 7 October 2017 ISBN 9783960981183
• Ni vues, Ni connues pp. 42–44, Collectif Georgette Sand, Publisher Novelist Doc collection Les Simone, 5 October 2017 ISBN 9782755635393(in French)
• Hilma af Klint: Notes and Methods, run off with an introduction and commentary mass Iris Müller-Westerman, University of City Press, 2018 ISBN 978-0-226-59193-3

References

Further reading

External links