Hilma af Klint - Misunderstood Pioneer of Abstract Art

Hilma af Klint was a Swedish painter born in 1862, known for her pioneering abstract works. Her art is characterised by bright colors and symbolic forms, often inspired by spiritual and mystical themes. She is lately more and more celebrated all over the world, although she was relatively unknown during her lifetime. She understood after her first international exhibition in London, when interest och feedback were a lot under her expectation, that the world was not ready for the style and topics of her artwork, which was maybe even more questioned since she was a woman. On a personal level, she was deeply involved in theosophy and spiritualism, which greatly influenced her artistic vision. Later she developed great interest in the ideas of rosicrucianism and - after she got to know Rudolf Steiner when he visited Stockholm- , anthroposophy inspired her thoughts and her work. These movements, and new forms of spiritual engagement generally, were part of the zeitgeist across Europe in intellectual and artistic circles, partly as a new awareness of the plurality of religions. Hilma af Klint was born in Stockholm. She studied at the Stockholm´s Royal Academy of Fine Arts and started in the beginning of her career exhibiting figurative and nature theme paintings. She was even engaged in the Association of Swedish Women Artists. Later, she lived in Uppsala, Helsingborg and Lund and traveled to Europa frequently, mostly to Dornach in Swizerland, where she searched spirituell depth by learning from Rudolf Steiner. She remained unmarried and died in 1944 in a traffic accident. Her paintings can be seen in artmuseums all over the world: Moderna Museet Stockholm, Museum Guggenheim Bilbao, Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen Düsseldorf, Tate Modern London, Artmuseum Den Haag, Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) New York, Grand Palais Paris. Her most important paintings are presented in Kristallen Konsthall in Järna, Schweden.