If you were forced to choose the most international artist of the past decade or so, some would do far worse than the Swedish mystic artist. Hilma af Klint, Even though it has been over 80 years since she passed away. As you can see from the link at the bottom of the post, we’ve been featuring her here at Open Culture since 2017, initially in terms of whether she could be counted among the first abstract painters. Just a few years earlier, few people in the world had heard of her, much less seen her more than 1,200 paintings and drawings. In fact, that was in 2013. Hilma af Klint — Pioneer of Abstraction Her first public appearance was at the Museum of Modern Art in Stockholm.
From there, her canonization progressed rapidly. Given Clint’s religiosity, one uses this word cautiously, as its intensity, difficulty, and rigor constitute one of the themes of the work. Alice Gregory’s recent situation new yorker piece All about the artist’s work, her legacy, and her relatively recently discovered popularity are colored by the fact that none of her work has ever been offered for sale.
af Klint’s work has an eerily modern and antiquated aesthetic appeal. Another is the widespread lack of knowledge about the details of her life and thought, allowing many suddenly devoted fans in the 21st century to imagine her in their own preferred artistic, philosophical, and social narratives. But the key to the appeal of her image is that, born in 1862, she was not a 21st century woman.
Af Klint hardly belonged to the 20th century. The complex and seemingly contradictory worldviews that inspired her artwork are largely inaccessible to us, even if we manage to read through the 26,000 pages of diary she left behind. Gregory interviews one such (and perhaps only) dedicated person, a nonprofit CEO and Clint scholar dedicated to busting the myths that have quickly become entrenched around her. One is that she produced it alone. Evidence suggests that some paintings attributed to her may actually have been created by other members of her spiritualist circle, “The Five.” But even if it turns out she wasn’t a campaigner after all, her name will no doubt continue to fill museum exhibitions for years to come.
Related content:
Get to know Hilma af Klint: a pioneering mystical painter and perhaps the first abstract artist
The Life and Art of Hilma af Klint: A Short Art History Lesson on the Pioneering Abstract Artist
Hilma a Klint’s new documentary explores the life and art of the pioneering abstract artist
A short video introducing Hilma af Klint, the mysterious female painter who helped invent abstract art
The complete works of Hilma af Klint are published for the first time in a beautiful seven-volume collection
Who painted the first abstract painting?: Wassily Kandinsky? Hilma and Klint? Or another candidate?
Based in Seoul, Colin Mbemust write and broadcastIt’s about cities, languages ​​and cultures. His projects include the Substack newsletter books about cities and a book Stateless City: A Stroll Through Los Angeles in the 21st Century. Follow him on the social network formerly known as Twitter. @Colinbemust.
Source: Open Culture – www.openculture.com
