Hilma af Klint (in Extreme landscape)

Hilma af Klint born 26.10.1862 in Solna, died 21.10.1944 in Djursholm

The Swedish painter Hilma af Klint was an artist unknown during her lifetime and yet postmortem an important pioneer of abstract painting. In her will, she had decreed that her works could not be exhibited until 20 years after her death.

A 2-year study at the Swedish Academy of Arts was followed by a 5-year education an der Royal Academy of Liberal Arts (1882-1887). Afterwards she painted in her own studio mainly landscapes and portraits. Early on, religion, spirituality and Theosophy began to arouse her interest. Under the influence of Edvard Munch, Hilma af Klint was particularly interested in the connections between psychic states and their painterly possibilities of expression.
Around 1906 Hilma af Klint began to paint abstractly, initially in small and later in large format. Her almost 200 works became known posthumously under the title "Paintings for the Temple". Around 1920, influenced by Rudolf Steiner, Hilma af Klint developed an increasingly anthroposophical style of painting.

On 21.10.1944 the artist died in Djursholm. Nearly 30 years after her death, her works became known in the international art world after the Swedish art historian Ake Fant discovered her works. In 1986 her works were shown in the exhibition "The Spirituel Art" together with those of other abstract painters such as Kandinsky, Malevich and Mondrian in Los Angeles, Chicago and The Hague.
2018 dedicated the Guggenheim Museum hilma af Klint in New York a major retrospective, a last great tribute to the artist who had significantly influenced abstract painting.

Text © Jürgen Banse, 2021