Hilma af Klint at the Guggenheim Museum, New York, NY
By now, you probably have heard of the exhibition Hilma af Klint: Paintings for the Future at the Guggenheim in New York. This is a reminder that the show closes this month on April 23rd. It is a remarkable exhibition that revises the history of art, establishing this Swedish woman as the world’s first abstract painter who created non-objective art nearly ten years before Wassily Kandinsky and Kazimir Malevich each claimed the title of First Abstract Artist.
Af Klint’s images, which depict mystical visions, are bold and engaging. The artist’s spiritualism was inspired by Theosophy, Rosicrucianism, and Anthroposophy. Like many in artistic and literary circles during that time, she gathered with others to communicate with spirits. During these seances, her guide from the spiritual world told her to design a temple and create paintings for the interior. This is what is on view at the Guggenheim.
