Hilma af Klint (October 26, 1862 – October 21, 1944) was a Swedish artist and
mystic whose paintings were among the first Western abstract art. A
considerable body of her abstract work predates the first purely abstract
compositions by Kandinsky. She belonged to a group called "The Five",
a circle of women who shared her belief in the importance of trying to make
contact with the so-called "High Masters"—often by way of séances.
Her paintings, which sometimes resemble diagrams, were a visual representation
of complex spiritual ideas. Af Klint's
work can be understood in the wider context of the Modernist search for new
forms in artistic, spiritual, political and scientific systems at the beginning
of the 20th century. One will find the same interest in spirituality in other
artists during this same period, such as Wassily Kandinsky, Piet Mondrian,
Kasimir Malevitch and the French Nabis of which many were, like af Klint,
inspired by the Theosophical Movement. However, the artistic transition to
abstract art and the nonfigurative painting of Hilma af Klint would occur without
any contacts with the contemporary modern movements.
