Hilma af Klint was part of a group of female friends who called themselves 'The Five', which was active between 1896 and 1908. Together with Anna Cassel, Cornelia Cederberg, Sigrid Hedman, and Mathilda Nilsson, af Klint had been a member of the 'Edelweiss Society' - a group that combined Christian ideas, Theosophy, and Spiritualism. The Five received messages from higher spirits that they called the High Masters, and during their seances they documented the messages in trance-like states with automatic writing and drawing. There are 15 sketchbooks from this period, and Bokförlaget Stolpe are now making three of them (S2 HaK 1515, S6 HaK 1519 and S13 HaK 1526) available in a reproduction edition. The sketchbooks will be sold together in a slipcase. Hilma af Klint, 1862-1944. Anna Cassel, 1860-1937. Cornelia Cederberg, 1854-1933.Sigrid Hedman, 1855-1922. Mathilda Nilsson, 1844-1923.
Der einzigartige Band stellt die letzten von Hilma af Klint geschaffenen und bislang gänzlich unveröffentlichten Werkserien aus den 1920er-Jahren vor. Den Bildteil begleiten informative Essays, die neues Licht auf die wichtige Pionierin der Abstraktion werfen. Sie erläutern af Klints Bedeutung für die Künstler von heute und plädieren für ein erweitertes Verständnis der Kunstgeschichte im 21. Jahrhundert.
A moving biography, told in vivid illustrations, this graphic novel features key moments in the life of Swedish artist and pioneer of abstract painting Hilma af Klint (1862–1944). Long underrecognized, af Klint has been amid a sensational rediscovery that continues to take art audiences by storm.Artist Philipp Deines traces the story of now world-famous af Klint’s unique life and groundbreaking oeuvre through five chapters featuring her development as an artist, her family background, and her relationship to the spiritual. Highlighting how she came to her distinctive paintings, her spiritual quest, and the friends who helped her, this is a story of the strength it took af Klint to continue as an artist against all odds.Beautifully drawn, brightly colored, and well researched, this graphic novel is a new way of looking at the story of an artist. Referencing Julia Voss’s new biography of af Klint, Deines presents an accessible and lively introduction for many ages. Biography, art history, and contemporary narrative style merge and complement each other in this magnificent visual world.
Focusing on the visionary artist Hilma af Klint, this study reveals her groundbreaking abstract works, created before modernist pioneers like Kandinsky. After her death in 1944, af Klint's art remained private for decades, awaiting a time deemed suitable for public viewing. The book accompanies a major U.S. exhibition, exploring her life, influences, and the artistic context of her 1906 departure from figuration. It also highlights her spiritual aspirations for a temple to house her art, which resonates with the Guggenheim Museum's rotunda exhibition space.
Af Klint's exquisitely rendered botanical portfolio reveals a deep spiritual engagement with the flora of her native Sweden Across the spring and summer seasons of 1919 and 1920, Swedish artist Hilma af Klint engaged in a period of intense observation of nature, venturing into forests and fields and drawing the flowers she found there. The resulting 46 sheets comprise her Nature Studiesportfolio, recently acquired by the Museum of Modern Art, New York. In pencil and jewel-toned watercolor, af Klint juxtaposed exquisitely rendered blossoms with enigmatic diagrams: a blooming sunflower is echoed by nested circles; lily of the valley is joined by a colorful checkerboard; catsfoot is set against a pair of mirrored spirals. Together, these two modes--representational and abstract--demonstrate the artist's belief that close observation of nature reveals "what stands behind the flowers": ineffable aspects of the human character. Published in conjunction with the first public exhibition of this rare portfolio, Hilma af Klint: What Stands Behind the Flowerspresents the drawings alongside contextualizing artworks and translations of the artist's previously unpublished writings. An overview essay by curator Jodi Hauptman explores af Klint's portfolio and the circumstances of its creation; texts by Ewa Lajer-Burcharth, Laura Neufeld and Lena Struwe unpack the imagery, materiality and botanical knowledge behind these works. Hilma af Klint(1862-1944) trained at Stockholm's Royal Academy of Fine Arts and established herself as a professional artist. In the first decade of the 20th century, she developed a unique abstract vocabulary, some years earlier than her peers. Whether on canvas or on paper, her singular work is informed by her spiritual investigations and, as this project demonstrates, an interest in and attunement to the natural world.
