Hilma af Klint
On this day in 1862, Hilma af Klint, a Swedish artist and mystic whose paintings are considered among the first abstract works known in Western art history was born!
She studied Theosophy and Rosicrucianism, expanding her consciousness and trusting that "knowledge of a deeper spiritual reality could be achieved through focused attention on intuition, meditation, and other means of transcending normal human consciousness." Her work connects our reality to the cosmos, exploring themes such as childhood, youth, adulthood, primordial chaos, eros, evolution, the altar, and the tree of knowledge. These themes allow access to the divine and open us to the noumenal experiences of the spiritual sublime.
Af Klint entrusted her work to her nephew and instructed him not to open the boxes of her abstract art until 20 years after her death in the late 1960s. Ironically, in 1970, her entire collection was offered as a gift to the Moderna Museet—the very museum now staging her works—and they refused it.
This painting is featured in our 2025 Desk Calendar, full of beautiful masterpieces and stories about them.
P.S. This painting was part of larger, incredible series representing human emotional evolution. Delve with us into Hilma af Klint's The Ten Largest series!