Hilma af Klint and the start of abstraction

If you search for Hilma af Klint prints, Swedish abstract artist, or early abstract painting, you will notice one clear thing: her work does not feel like a side note. It feels like a full visual system.

Hilma trained in a traditional art setting in Stockholm, and she could paint landscapes and portraits. But from the mid-1900s she began making large, carefully structured abstract series—often built from spirals, circles, flowers, letters, and colour codes. She believed these works came through a higher consciousness, and she tried to paint things that cannot be seen in ordinary life.

One reason her story matters is that much of this work was not shown publicly in her lifetime. A major museum publication notes that she believed the world was not yet ready, and she asked that parts of the work remain unseen for a period after her death.

Hilma af Klint in brief (life and work)

• 1862: Born in the Stockholm area (Karlberg Palace / Solna).
• Studied at the Royal Swedish Academy of Fine Arts in Stockholm.
• Worked with a circle of women known as “The Five” (De Fem), linked to spiritual ideas and séances.
• 1906–1915: Created her central series Paintings for the Temple (in two main phases).
• Made monumental works like The Ten Largest (1907).
• 1944: Died in Sweden.

Quote (Hilma af Klint on her process)

“The pictures were painted directly through me, without any preliminary drawings, and with great force. I had no idea what the paintings were supposed to depict; nevertheless I worked swiftly and surely, without changing a single brush stroke.”

What to notice in a Hilma af Klint work

A coded visual language. Shapes and colours behave like symbols, not decoration.
Nature and spirit together. Petals, shells, and growth patterns sit beside geometry and diagrams.
Scale and calm impact. Some works are large and direct, made to be felt at a distance and up close.