Looking forward to this one, Hilma af Klint has definitely and finally had her moment in the sun. Previously unknown she was included in the 80’s major exhibition ‘The Spiritual in Art’ at LACMA in the words of the curator, Maurice Tuchman, that the “genesis and development of abstract art were inextricably tied to spiritual ideas current in Europe in the later 18th and early 20th centuries.” The exhibition paid tribute to the spiritual sparks that inspired the pioneers of abstract art came out of spiritualism and the occult. Also pointed out that the art was generated from serious engagements with esotericism including; Theosophy, Anthroposophy, Rosicrucianism, Spiritualism and Eastern mysticism etc. over thirty years after ‘The Spiritual in Art’ the Guggenheim Museum in NYC had its attendance breaking show ‘Hilma af Klint: Paintings for the Future’ has not only captured the millennial hash-taggers but the seed that is rewriting Art History. BWH
The ‘Mother of Abstraction’ Hilma Af Klint – New Doco
from ARTNET
A New Hilma af Klint Documentary Traces the Extraordinary True Story of the Mystical Artist Who Invented Abstract Painting—Watch the Trailer Here
The visionary Swedish artist Hilma af Klint (1862–1944) was a pioneering abstract painter, but her place in the art history books is only now being assured. The first major step in cementing her legacy was the blockbuster 2019 exhibition at the Guggenheim, and now, a new documentary film coming out this week, Beyond the Visible: Hilma af Klint, is the latest attempt to chronicle her contributions to abstract art.
Hilma af Klint began creating her colorful, spiritually guided canvases in 1906—five years before Wassily Kandinsky made his first abstract work—yet she was all but forgotten after her death. That was partly by her own design—her will prohibited the exhibition of her work for decades—but it is also symptomatic of larger tendency in art history to under-recognize the accomplishments of women artists.
In this case, neglecting to acknowledge the primacy of af Klint is a massive omission from perhaps the most important artistic development of the 20th century.
