Hilma af Klint: A Biography

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A highly anticipated biography of the enigmatic and popular Swedish painter.   The Swedish painter Hilma af Klint (1862–1944) was forty-four years old when she broke with the academic tradition in which she had been trained to produce a body of radical, abstract works the likes of which had never been seen before. Today, it is widely accepted that af Klint was one of the earliest abstract academic painters in Europe.    But this is only part of her story. Not only was she a working female artist, she was also an avowed clairvoyant and mystic. Like many of the artists at the turn of the twentieth century who developed some version of abstract painting, af Klint studied Theosophy, which holds that science, art, and religion are all reflections of an underlying life-form that can be harnessed through meditation, study, and experimentation. Well before Kandinsky, Mondrian, and Malevich declared themselves the inventors of abstraction, af Klint was working in a nonrepresentational mode, producing a powerful visual language that continues to speak to audiences today. The exhibition of her work in 2018 at the Guggenheim Museum in New York City attracted more than 600,000 visitors, making it the most-attended show in the history of the institution.   Despite her enormous popularity, there has not yet been a biography of af Klint—until now. Inspired by her first encounter with the artist’s work in 2008, Julia Voss set out to learn Swedish and research af Klint’s life—not only who the artist was but what drove and inspired her. The result is a fascinating biography of an artist who is as great as she is enigmatic. 10.7208/chicago/9780226689937.001.0001 Contents A Note from the Translator Chronology Introduction Part One Family, Childhood, and Youth in Stockholm 1. Mary Wollstonecraft Visits Sweden and Is Upset 2. Birth 3. School and Religion 4. An Exhibition in London 5. Bertha Valerius and the Dead 6. Kerstin Cardon’s Painting School 7. Hermina’s Death Part Two Study at the Academy and Independent Work 1. The Academy 2. Guardian Spirit 3. The Prize 4. Anna Cassel 5. “My First Experience with Mediumship” 6. The Young Artist 7. Dr. Helleday and Love 8. The Five 9. Art from the Orient 10. Rose and Cross 11. At the Veterinary Institute 12. Children’s Books and Decorative Art 13. Italy 14. Genius Part Three Paintings for the Temple 1. Old Images 2. Revolution 3. Primordial Chaos 4. Eros 5. Medium 6. The Ten Largest 7. “I Was the Instrument of Ecstasy” 8. Rudolf Steiner Visits Sweden 9. The Young Ones 10. Sigrid Lancén 11. The Association of Swedish Women Artists 12. Frank Heyman 13. Island Kingdom in Mälaren 14. First Exhibition with the Theosophists 15. Tree of Knowledge 16. The Kiss 17. Singoalla 18. The Baltic Exhibition 19. War 20. Saint George 21. Kandinsky in Stockholm 22. Parsifal and Atom 23. The Studio on Munsö 24. Thomasine Anderson Part Four Dornach, Amsterdam, and London 1. The Suitcase Museum 2. Flowers, Mosses, and Lichens 3. First Visit to the Goetheanum 4. “Belongs to the Astral World According to Doctor Steiner” 5. The Fire and the Letter 6. Amsterdam 7. London Part Five Temple and Later Years 1. The Temple and the Spiral 2. +x 3. A Temple in New York 4. The London Blitz 5. Future Woman 6. National Socialism 7. Lecture in Stockholm 8. “Degenerate” Art in Germany and Abstract Art in New York 9. Tyra Kleen and the Plan for a Museum 10 Last Months 11. Conclusion Afterword by Johan af Klint Afterword by Ulrika af Klint Appendix 1. Hilma af Klint’s Travels and Places of Residence Appendix 2. The Library of Hilma af Klint Acknowledgments Illustration Sources Notes Bibliography Index