Hilma af Klint: The Story of a Pioneer of Abstract Art
Wassily Kandinsky is considered to be one of the pioneers of abstract art. However, this title may also be claimed by a Swedish artist called Hilma af Klint (1862-1944), who painted an abstract picture in her art studio in Stockholm in 1906, five years earlier. For fairness sake, it should be noted that there have been other pioneers as well: Frantisek Kupka, Robert Delaunay, Piet Mondrian and Kazimir Malevich, who were part of these early abstract art movements.
Hilma af Klint, an admiral's daughter, was born in 1862 in Sweden, a country that allowed women to study art well before France, Germany or Italy. In 1882 she entered the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Stockholm and after graduation she rented a studio in the artists’ quarter and gradually gained recognition as a landscape and portrait painter. She also had a passion for studying plants and animals: in 1900-1901 she worked as a draughtsman at the Veterinary Institute.
Hilma was born into a Protestant family and discovered Theosophy at an early age. It is easy to notice the benefits that Theosophy could offer to a young female artist, even without the esoteric aspect. In the 19th century nobody doubted that great works of art were created through inspiration, yet there was hardly anyone who believed that when a woman was painting, higher forces would guide her. But Theosophy, founded by a woman (the Russian Helena Petrovna Blavatsky), had a different viewpoint. Women were welcomed as members of the organization and even held senior positions. In fact, it was the first religious organization in Europe that did not discriminate against women.
In 1905 Hilma said that during one of the séances she heard a voice saying: “You are to declare a new philosophy of life and you yourself are to become a part of the new kingdom. Your work will bear fruit.” Between November 1906 and March 1907 she created a series of abstract paintings named “Primordial Chaos”. Some of them resemble stormy seascapes with mysterious lights twinkling above the sea. Others are far from any particular representation and combine geometric shapes such as spirals with dynamic brushstrokes, letters of the alphabet and symbols. The images express moods and vaguely resemble the drawings she made (presumably unconsciously) during séances in the 1890s. Later, the Surrealists called this method “automatic drawing”.
The “Primordial Chaos” series became the bud from which almost 200 abstract paintings evolved over the following years. Between August and December 1907 she created a series of monumental works called “The Ten Largest”, where the organic forms of her early abstractions gave way to a stricter geometry: radiant ovals, circles and zigzags. However, the artist did not show any of her abstractions at any exhibitions. Moreover, in her will she specified that this could not be done until 20 years had passed after her death.
The Large Figure Paintings, 1907
Altarpiece - No 1 - Group X, 1907
Primordial Chaos, No. 16, 1906–07
Svanen, No. 17, 1915
