Hilma af Klint was a pioneer in many respects. Her artistic career began in classical painting, and she was among the first generations of female students to be admitted to the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Stockholm. Until she was in her 40s, she primarily painted portraits and landscapes, botanical studies, and commissioned works. Then, without any progressive transition, she shifted from traditional painting to abstraction, creating in a completely free and unconventional manner. Long after her death, Hilma af Klint has become internationally recognized and celebrated as an early pioneer of abstract art.
Hilma af Klint grew up in a naval officer's family in Stockholm and spent her summers on Adelsö in Lake Mälaren. After graduating from the Royal Academy of Fine Arts and until around , she had her studio at Hamngatan 5 near Kungsträdgården in Stockholm. The so-called Ateljéhuset was the cultural hub of the time, with Blanchs Café and an Art Salon on the ground floor. In the upper floors, the Academy of Arts provided studios and residences for students who had completed their studies. It was particularly landscape, and later portrait painting, that engaged Hilma af Klint
Hilma af Klint ()
Hilma af Klint (–) var en svensk målare, teosof och pionjär inom abstrakt måleri och redan utvecklade hon ett abstrakt bildspråk. Det var flera år före Wassily Kandinsky, Piet Mondrian och Kazimir Malevitj som fortfarande betraktas som föregångare till den abstrakta konsten på talet. Hon påbörjade sin konstnärliga utbildning vid Tekniska skolan i Stockholm (nuvarande Konstfack), där hon även tog lektioner i porträttmåleri. Efter studierna skaffade hon sig en egen ateljé vid Kungsträdgården där hon målade och ställde ut landskap i naturalistisk stil. Under en resa till Schweiz mötte hon Rudolf Steiner och greps av dennes antroposofiska idéer och utvecklade ett starkt intresse för det ockulta. Under seanser fick hon budskap, som hon omformade i abstrakta målningar. År , visades några av hennes abstrakta verk för första gången i en utställning, The Spiritual in Art, Abstract Painting –, i Los Angeles. Denna utställning kom att bli Hilma af Klints internationella genombrott. I och med en separatutställning på Moderna Museet i Stockholm startade en ny fas i hennes konstnärliga arv. Detta blev den mest omskrivna utställningen i Moderna Museets historia och gjorde
Summary of Hilma af Klint
Paradoxically delicate and powerful, the art of Hilma af Klint quietly and privately delivers a loud and essential message. Creating abstract canvases five years prior to the first by Wassily Kandinsky, and experimenting with writing and drawing guided by the unconscious decades before the Surrealists, the woman was a pioneer. Described as a mystic and a medium, af Klint conducted séances and communicated with spirits, even receiving a message from higher forces to create her most notable, devotional body of work, Paintings for the Temple. Yet, af Klint's sensitivity surrounding the ethereal was married to an analytical and scientific way of navigating the world. She was an eager botanist, well read in natural sciences and in world religions. With unsurpassed wisdom and in anticipation of human foolishness, not only did af Klint state that her work was not to be shown for 20 years following her death, but she also stipulated that no work could be sold separately, ensuring that her artworks could not become misunderstood commodities.
Accomplishments
- In stark contrast to other pioneers of 20th century abstraction, af Klint worked away from the a
Hilma af Klint
Swedish artist (–)
Hilma af Klint (Swedish pronunciation:[ˈhɪ̂lːmaˈɑːvˈklɪnːt]; 26 October – 21 October ) was a Swedish artist and mystic whose paintings are considered among the first major abstract works in Western art history.[1] A considerable body of her work predates the first purely abstract compositions by Kandinsky, Malevich and Mondrian.[2] She belonged to a group called "The Five", comprising a circle of women inspired by Theosophy, who shared a belief in the importance of trying to contact the so-called "High Masters"—often by way of séances.[3] Her paintings, which sometimes resemble diagrams, were a visual representation of complex spiritual ideas.[4]
Early life
[edit]Hilma af Klint was the fourth child of Mathilda af Klint (née Sonntag) and Captain Victor af Klint, a Swedish naval commander, and she spent summers with her family at their manor, "Hanmora", on the island of Adelsö in Lake Mälaren. In these idyllic surroundings she came into contact with nature at an early stage in her life, and a deep association with natural forms was to be an inspiration in her work. Later in life, Hilma a
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