Hilma af Klint: The pioneer of abstract art

Before Kandinsky, before Picasso, there was Hilma af Klint. Her abstract work was ahead of her time. Af Klint knew this and insisted her work remain unseen by the world until 20 years after her death. Her art wasn’t just rich with colour and movement, but was deeply tied to the spiritual beliefs that af Klint was invested in.

Af Klint aligned more closely with the values of Spiritualism

Hilma af Klint was born in Sweden in 1862 to a family that was committed to the arts and science. This was during the Enlightenment, when people strayed from religion and into scientific reasoning and advancements, such as the x-ray. At 17 years old, af Klint became interested in Theosophy and Spiritualism. Both movements shared a focus on the spiritual, which af Klint was drawn to, especially as her younger sister passed away aged only 10 when af Klint was 18. Her sister’s death acted as the catalyst for af Klint’s immersion into spirituality and communicating with the dead. However, around the time that she began training as an artist at the Royal Swedish Academy of Fine Art in Stockholm, she moved away from her communications with the dead. Af Klint was instead pulled to communicating with higher powers that would bring her closer to the knowledge of an ‘ultimate higher power’. This was particularly prevalent in her life and artwork after she attended a lecture by Rudolf Steiner, the founder of the Anthroposophical Society, in Stockholm in 1908. This aim of af Klint aligned more closely with the values of Spiritualism.

Af Klint wanted to involve herself in movements in which women were central figures

Philosophies such as Theosophy, Rosicrucianism and Protestantism are common throughout Hilma af Klint’s entire body of work. These philosophies were a response to scientific advancements and the consequences of industrialisation in the early twentieth century, such as J.J. Thompson’s subatomic particle model in 1897. These discoveries encouraged the rising belief of a connection between the material world and the spiritual realm, in relation to Theosophy. Beyond this, it is noteworthy that Spiritualism and Theosophy were founded by women. Clearly af Klint wanted to involve herself in movements in which women were central figures.

Even though af Klint was involved in Spiritualism and other unconventional aspects of life, she was actually classically trained at the Academy. Studying was focused on the human form. Af Klint excelled there long before she turned to Abstractism. The generation of women artists that she was a part of at the Academy in Stockholm was among the first to be admitted, although there was still animosity from many men. It was a big deal that women were given the opportunity to study the naked form, as they could finally move away from still life. As well as learning how to capture the body with anatomical accuracy, the education equipped them with skills that could earn them public attention. Of course, many men argued that it was unnatural for women to be in the room with naked men while drawing and observing them, all whilst men would lose their minds over a woman showing her ankles! Clearly, af Klint ignored such objections as she went on to win an award in 1884 for her skills.

Their art works were influenced through the conduction of séances and messages from spirit guides

It wasn’t until 1896 when she teamed up with her best friend from the Academy, Anna Cassel, and three other women that she formed ‘De Fem’ or ‘The Five’. Af Klint had now become more committed to spiritual experiences and séances, recording her own sessions from 1896 to 1907. Their art works were influenced through the conduction of séances and messages from spirit guides. The chronological order of af Klint’s art, shows how ‘The Five’ encouraged her to develop her techniques and skills that went beyond the traditional, male dominated rules of her time. With the evolution of her artistic skills and the transcribing of messages from spirits, via writing and drawing in a trance, af Klint produced the beginnings of what would be known as Abstract art – an art form that wouldn’t be accepted for exhibition during her lifetime. She knew this, writing in her notebooks that she felt the world wasn’t ready for the messages that her work was intended to communicate.

Alas, Hilma af Klint was praised for her conventional work, but her true genius was to remain unseen and unrecognised for many years. Whether it was a coping mechanism for grief, inspired by those she communicated with outside the land of the living, or neither of those factors, af Klint undoubtedly was a powerhouse in the world of art.