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Hilma Af Klint (1862-1944) Represents a Revolutionary Upheaval of the Accepted Narrative of Twentieth-Century Modernism

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Hilma Af Klint (1862-1944) Represents a Revolutionary Upheaval of the Accepted Narrative of Twentieth-Century Modernism Making Their Mark 8 A CELEBRATION OF GREAT WOMEN ARTISTS The recent rediscovery of the Swedish artist Hilma af Klint (1862-1944) represents a revolutionary upheaval of the accepted narrative of Twentieth-Century Modernism. The dominant story goes something like this: Non- representational or purely abstract art--meaning paintings with no correlation to perceived reality--was invented around 1910 by one male artist furiously working away in Munich, the Russian-born painter Wassily Kandinsky (1866- 1944). Thanks to Kandinsky, a foundation was established that would eventually make possible all abstraction to follow, including the drips and drizzles of Jackson Pollock and beyond. The problem with this patrilineage, we now know, is that it simply isn't true. Hilma af Klint was already A true pioneer: Hilma af Klint, circa 1901. working towards pure abstraction by 1906. Hilma af Klint, The Ten Largest, No. 7, Adulthood Group IV, The daughter of a Swedish naval commander, she was exceptionally talented at art, 1907. Tempera on paper, mounted on canvas. botany, and mathematics at a young age. At the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Stockholm she excelled at portraits and landscape, subjects that later supported her financially while she explored more experimental modes of representation. Like many of her male counterparts during this period, she saw abstraction as a means to unveil spiritual truths, to get at some secret mathematics of existence. Interested in spiritism, Theosopy, and Anthroposophy, she found comfort in mystical authors like Helena Blavatsky and Rudolf Steiner. With a group of four other women she founded De Fem ("The Five"), a spiritual artist's group. As part of this group she also used the technique of automatic drawing, or drawing spontaneously and randomly as a means to channel the subconscious. Again she was years ahead of others in using this method, particuarly the Surrealists of the 1920s. De Fem held séances at which, Hilma af Klint claimed, she received messages from another realm urging her to create a series of paintings for "The Temple." In time she would create nearly 200 paintings for this unspecified Temple; some of them, called The Ten Largest, are Hilma af Klint, The Ten Largest, No. 3, Youth, Group IV, 1907. Tempera on paper, mounted on canvas. indeed quite large, approximately 126 x 94 inches. She never fully understood the mystic nature of these abstractions, and shared them with very few individuals, believing that the world was not yet spiritually prepared to appreciate their meanings. In her will, Hilma af Klint decreed that her paintings should remain hidden for twenty years after her death, presumably to give the world time to catch up. Thus, her life's work, some 1200 drawings and paintings, were unseen until the 1960s. Even then, it was difficult to find a museum to accept the collection. A foundation was ultimately established in her name to preserve and promote the work. Although she has been known to a select few since the 1980s, it has only been in the last few years that her pioneering Hilma af Klint, The Ten Largest, No. 6, Adulthood, Group IV, Installation view of Hilma af Klint: Paintings for the Future at the Solomon R. Guggenheim contributions have been accepted 1907. Tempera on paper, mounted on canvas. Museum, New York. On view October 12, 2018-April 23, 2019. by most art historians. KAM CELEBRATES WOMEN'S HISTORY MONTH.
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