The secret history of the world's first abstract artist
In short: For decades, history books credited Wassily Kandinsky with inventing abstract art. But a Swedish artist named Hilma af Klint was painting non-representational masterpieces five years before him. She kept her work hidden from the public, believing the world simply wasn't ready for her spiritual visions.
Born in 1862, Hilma af Klint was a classically trained painter who began her journey into the occult in the late 19th century. By 1896, she joined a group of women known as "The Five," who engaged in séances and automatic writing to communicate with spirits they called High Masters. In 1904, during one of these rituals, she claimed to receive a divine commission from the spirit Amaliel to create a series of paintings for a temple, intended to portray the immortal aspect of humanity.
In November 1906, af Klint began "The Paintings for the Temple," a massive undertaking that resulted in 193 works completed over nine years. These pieces broke entirely from representation, utilizing geometric shapes like spirals and circles, vibrant colors, and organic motifs. While her contemporaries were still largely focused on the physical world, af Klint was exploring what she described as the "astral plane." Despite her profound influence on the visual language of modern art, she chose to keep her work secret, showing it only to a small circle of friends.
Af Klint's decision to remain anonymous was so absolute that she requested her collection of over 1,200 abstract pieces remain hidden for 20 years after her death. Because she avoided the mainstream art movements of her time, her role as a pioneer was largely overlooked until recently. Today, she is recognized as a visionary who anticipated major currents of modern art, creating a universal and timeless dimension of work that was born from a private, spiritual devotion rather than a desire for public acclaim.
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Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: The Secretive Life of Hilma af Klint - The Supernatural World of the first Abstract Artist
- Also: Meet Hilma af Klint, the Occultist Who Believed Otherworldly Spirits Told Her What to Paint. Now, She's Considered One of History's First Abstract Artists
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