Hilma af Klint

Born in Stockholm in 1862, Hilma af Klint began her artistic career as an academy-educated painter of naturalistic landscapes and portraits. Influenced by the spiritual movements and scientific discoveries of her era, however, af Klint soon strove to express abstract concepts beyond what the eye can see. She began creating radically abstract paintings in 1906, years before Vasily Kandinsky, Kazimir Malevich, Piet Mondrian, and others would take similar strides to rid their own artwork of representational content. Yet while many of her better-known contemporaries published manifestos and exhibited widely, af Klint kept her groundbreaking paintings largely private.
"Hilma af Klint: Paintings for the Future," the first major solo exhibition in the United States devoted to the artist, is on view October 12, 2018-April 23, 2019 at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York. Learn more at www.guggenheim.org/hilmaafklint

[@shadesofgray5476]

She wasn't interested in money or fame. I don't get the haters. This was one woman's spiritual and artistic journey. It isn't for everyone, but for those who feel something by studying it, it is quite interesting. She was ahead of her time.

[@heaven7360]

and yet Damien Hirst is somehow considered a modern master....of sorts.

[@christyis1270]

What haters? Who hates anyone’s art? Ugh … I love Hilda’s work, it’s brilliantly inspired and she tried so hard to bring it down to a level that may be understandable to all. Sometimes what we reject we need the most. The brain fears that which it has never seen before. Fear / hate - both sides of the same coin.

[@mattias5157]

She was obviously deeply spiritual. To project your own - not you, but those who do - frustration on her shows a deep lack of understanding.

[@camilaferreira9061]

guggenheim: being the perfect location for hilma's paintings is the biggest flex

[@mookieboobm]

took us a while to catch up!

[@SuperRobertoClemente]

It's also completely shameless. She didn't design the Guggenheim-- that was Frank Lloyd Wright decades later. Her plans were HER plans. It's depressing that one of the first major retrospectives of her work was also an attempt to coopt her now that it's fashionable, whitewashing the Guggenheim's historical canonization of mostly male artists.

[@muzeinview08]

She was truly way ahead of her time, and going out on the a limb of her own vision, creating these beautiful, elegant, inspiring works. How fortunate we are to be able to view them now after so long. Thank you, Hilma.

[@andrewcrockett7347]

I love how Hilma Klint was not interested in receiving the accolades of her generation, preferring to work from a place of solitude and an all-knowing acceptance that her work was supremely connected to a divine source too intricate to put into words. Bona Fide

[@sebhammond3841]

Also I wonder if she would've been recieved at all. Was the concept or style too unpalatable for the time? Would she have been listened to as a woman? It's so precious that it's survived until now to be seen. It's head scratching to fathom the amount of fantastic progress in art we may not know about, what if we're repeating similar ideas and never knew what's already been done?

[@sia5485]

I feel so blessed to have attended this exhibition, especially ordered in the spatial arrangement she wished as the spiral of Guggenheim. It was truly the best exhibition of my life and I could feel..it was really a journey. priceless feelings

[@peterl7578]

In Australia in June 2021 www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/exhibitions/hilma-af-klint

[@alisondailey3834]

An Awakening... I just heard of Hilma today and viewed her art for the first time. WHY haven't I ever heard of this remarkable FEMALE artist? I have a new crush!

[@mep5862]

Me too :)

[@lotte89green]

Me just now... I am stunned!!!

[@cefrinaldi8060]

I recently find her. And i'm so upset not finding her sooner. She is wonderful, revolutionary and visionary. Why is she not widely recognise yet?

[@jamontoast1414]

Her art came out after the other abstract artists- even if she did paint before them. She's also a women and so might not have been taken as seriously at the time? I'm not sure

[@discodirk48]

Because it points to the origins of our true beginnings of which the ruling blue blood lines don't want you knowing about! What you are being propagandized and brainwashed to think is so far from the truth because they can't handle the truth! Reject and repent!

[@ShatteredButterfly8]

What origins do you speak of?

[@ANJROTmania]

She doesnt want it to be recognized. For everything to be measured by fame fortune seems antithetical to her themes.

[@freudianslippers6567]

@@jamontoast1414 They didn't come out after, she was the first abstract painter in the western world.

[@djsandy303]

her art is profound. i think it has the power to transform the human spirit. i spent the whole day learning everything i could about her and her art. Later that day i walked through a grocerystore and the beauty of the world was enough to move me to tears. Just to be in your mind is a gift.

[@r.g.m41]

love this perspective, i've just learned about her today and i am in awe.

[@dianaryman]

I just found out about her this morning and keep reading and looking for more. There are quite a number of people who want to put her down and refuse to credit her with being a pioneer in abstraction. I'm typically not fond of the abstract, but there is something about her art that touches me deeply and profoundly.

[@djsandy303]

@@dianaryman her art wasnt known about when certain artists were pioneering abstraction. then theres people who say she was the first. i dont claim to be a scholar in the area, but i cant say that it matters a great deal to me because i thinnk her art is in its own lane. her art has a spiritual and ethereal quality while also looking like something found in a science textbook from an alternate dimension. if shes an abstract artist, her art is an abstraction of the human spirit rather than an abstraction of our material world and ive never seen anything like it.

[@ashleighcranford3541]

I like how much every person speaking believes in her. They're fervently supportive.

[@buddhahoo1]

Love her abstract, but that landscape is wow too. A truly gifted, spiritual artist.

[@l9relei272]

Hilma af Klint. Her art just make me feel emotions that i would never know how to describe. She's unique, then, now, and to the ends of time.

[@LoveandSoul7]

I love her and feel so connected to her art. I practice intuitive art, my way to communicate with the spirit world, my Essence and Guides...and find inspiration and meaning to share with my loved ones 💜 when I found Hilma I felt deeply in my heart: she's like me! thank you, thank you!!

[@keisham9731]

Exactly how I feel ❤️

[@iseultmacker]

I just found her, you just articulated perfectly my exact thoughts!

[@jcortese3300]

I only just learned of her -- she is the greatest abstract painter I've ever encountered. Her work is beyond magnificent.

[@Sky-qu5ob]

Fabulous Hilma. I love her art and it inspires me so much.

[@emaichart9083]

Una génio adelantada para su época y para colmo mujer .Ella lo sabía muy bien. Ansío pronto pueda acceder a un libro de sus obras. Maravillosa persona,nos dejó un gran legado con total gratitud.Creo que la mejor forma de retribuirle es dándola a conocer y tener sus obras expuestas. Tienen en esa maravilla de museo un sector para los artistas místicos? Sería muy interesante. Gracias por el video es maravilloso.

[@peopleunite3605]

Fucking Fabulous! The greatest news! As a former University Art Instructor, I grew weary of the male privileged art world and just knew more would be revealed! Ha! Love it!

[@7ngel]

I fear for your students

[@pathfinderwellcare]

I am so overwhelmed with joy by her work and to know despite Rudolf Steiner being judgemental and likely jealous of her profound connection to creator, she continued her work. 💗🙏🏽💗

[@windowsight_official]

Hilma af Klint was such a prolific and talented artist with a unique vision of this world. Her masterly use of colors and shapes is incredible!

[@hdrake1000]

Love this! Thank you. I am just hearing about her this last week! I am an instant fan.

[@stonew1927]

Nice little plug there at the end, Guggenheim :) Just so fascinating! Love her work. Hope the art world begins to recognize her as truly the first abstract artist, even ahead of Kandinsky.

[@sofiastenfeldt3346]

There is some evidence suggesting that Kandinsky saw af Klints work. Recent research shows that she did exhibit her work.

[@DHedwig]

Glorious, powerful and inspirational!

[@frescazzz7536]

So bummed I missed this exhibit. I bet it was incredible to see those massive paintings in person.

[@peterl7578]

it was :-)

[@jasmin5753]

Hi. Her exhibition is currently being shown in Sydney, Australia at the moment. We have been in lockdown here, and her exhibition has been on hold.. until further notice. They have produced a virtual exhibition for us.. to see the exhibition from home. I have a link to the Art Gallery of NSW in Sydney.. where you can see the exhibition virtually at home. Scroll down the link I have sent you.. to "Virtual Visit" and press the circle located on the floor of the photo to begin the tour.- www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/whats-on/programs/hilma-af-klint-at-home/

[@frescazzz7536]

@@jasmin5753 you are so kind. Thank you so much!

[@nanatorlay]

Amazing! I’m enchanted!

[@davec6244]

I'll definitely be making a trip to NYC for this one, been wanting to see her work in person for a while.

[@peterl7578]

Hilma in Australia, June 2021 www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/exhibitions/hilma-af-klint

[@alsaulso1332]

That ending gave me chills!! loved it!!! Awaken Art world!! Awaken to what you shun!!!

[@discodirk48]

The royal blood lines controlling this planet want you brain dead or just dead! Most can't or won't see the forest through the trees!

[@mattias5157]

Who shun Hilma af Klint? Don´t assume things. She barely showed her art to anyone. She was in this for spirituality and not for fame. She was very well aware that the time wasn´t ready for the message she brings.

[@gaelhillyardcreative]

There is a lot of derision, but one really needs to consider the time that she produced this work. Nothing had been seen like this before, and certainly not in that scale, and particularly by a woman. I think it is beautiful, and moving in the same way as I find Mondrian's later work moving and beautiful (Broadway Boogie Woogie is an astonishing painting full of a tantalising energy and to me a vision of everyday life at its most elegant). Incidentally, there was another artist, or group of artists who were doing something similar about 15 years ago - they said they were channelling from other entities (or it was produced by other entities - I can't remember) but it was some really intriguing work. Incredible colours, very other worldy. It was accompanied by text / poems and it could be obtained through someone called James (I think) and some of it shown online, if you knew where to look. And then it disappeared. Maybe memory is making it into more than it was, and it was just some rubbish gimmick but I recently remembered it and became curious to see it again but I cannot remember what it was called. Any clues?

[@mimiseton]

Oh my god I'm in love. My new inspiration!

[@STKisCOOLIO]

Awe inspiring art from a great mind.

[@shingnosis]

These paintings are going to become very valuable. Very, very valuable. Top drawer stuff.

[@claudiaaguilera4821]

I love her work

[@saule141]

C'est intéressant de voir que cette dame peignait pour elle des spirales et qu'un musée en forme de spirale la fera connaître du grand public.

[@juliecorcoran2353]

Just found out about her and am in a deep dive to learn everything I can. Her story resonates with me so much. I feel her art in my soul.

[@Andedjup]

Amazing Mindblowing yet Home

[@_Vortex___]

Why do I feel as if There is something unsettling and uncanny about her...yet so calming...like a small glitch in the matrix. ?

[@GustafafKlint99]

Glad people enjoy her art!

[@LostGirl415]

Obsessed. Inspired. In love.

[@victoriamazonica22]

May Art Remember its function, beyond commodity, beyond possession, towards expression, defying time, space, social constructs and “art history experts”.

[@smilinglynn9584]

What a phenomenal body of work! Wow!

[@dagmaric]

What a legacy ......what is essential is invisible!

[@mayhtoo3576]

So honor to behold the 🌞 Atist works...so wide&wisely..we lucky to see her by chance ......

[@dahtyelcsw]

Awesome Artist👍☯️💜

[@liesjacobs6352]

it is beautiful work with an enormous message for the world

[@alexandernagel8205]

A language of geometry appears from the other side and indigenous peoples encounter something similar when using psychotropic plants to commune with the spirit realm - seems to me like evidence of a reality behind death

[@discodirk48]

Without a doubt! Don't buy into the indoctrination that the royal blood lines want you to believe in that we evolved from apes to become shoppers! If it feels good do it! Reject and repent!

[@CarolRecord]

Beautiful!

[@celsaprado4185]

Thank you.

[@lindyashford7744]

There is a sense that Hilda af Klimt’s work has a kind of similarity to The Red Book, the private inner journey of Jung. Though her work is obviously meant to be viewed so is more than just private. There is this thing about good aritsits, their work takes on a life of its own. It is at the same time what the artist thinks they are making and so much more than that, because the artist is bound by their own time and culture. I hope these are looked after well.they are lovely and full of life and enquiry and she was an intelligent woman therefore must have known they were going to outlast her and take a journey into the unknown. She may even have hoped that they would inspire and enrich the lives of others. Who knows. Whatever she thought of them, all art is what it means to the beholder. This beholder thinks they are wonderful, intriguing and remarkably beautiful, and I do not always see that in all abstraction. Hers seems to be rooted in nature and geometry. I love it!

[@LoveandSoul7]

I love this interpretation!

[@estrexxa]

Does anyone know the song playing in the credits?

[@lightloveandawake3114]

We all have this access within ourselves…..through, intuition or sleep or dream or inspiration or mediation or hypnosis or ? or? or? Many more ways…these are always coming to us, but we need to take a moment to observe, or to note, or to draw, or to paint, or to ponder, etc, etc, etc. 💕😊💗just take a moment, before you rush out of bed, or have something happen that you quickly just label off as ‘coincidence’….and just carry on in life, and forget and go off to the next thing. Take a moment….pay attention….remember, remember, remember….these things that come to us, doesn’t mean just one thing, they are concepts for us to understand, to learn from and grow, to teach ourselves that we aren’t just these bodies, we are eternal and must open ourselves up to remember…..to expand what it means to be ‘human’ we are so so much more!!!!! Think of a picture of a Christmas tree….it means a million things, it is a concept in a picture of a Christmas tree….similarly, we are all getting these flashes of images, that are concepts for us to learn or understand, just like the Christmas tree….it doesn’t mean just one thing….Open your hearts and minds. I love you all my brothers and sisters💗😊💕

[@than217]

Just learned of her yesterday. Very interesting figure.

[@nataliechan2752]

Beautiful

[@Blifenlife]

Is it going to be shown at Bilbao's Guggenheim Museum? Please!

[@frederiquecouture3924]

Magnifique cette version.

[@frederiquecouture3924]

!

[@Comeriokid]

3:55 , Murakami’s base of inspiration.

[@gmmvld70]

These works are beautiful beyond belief She was surely on the path....but to ehere?

[@sylvioandrade2784]

Anybody knows what Song is this? I read that is from Andrew Miller, but it didn't appear the Song name.

[@endurocamarodusty7955]

Wow. The bookwritings is sometimes in German. I can read that. Das ist ja sehr interessant. Grossartig.

[@JoelleAGodfrey]

Wow.

[@kristine6996]

❤️

[@awareZONE]

What was her message that her era did not understand?

[@Eva.loisssss]

female energy

[@OfficialGeronimo]

Does anybody know who did the music?

[@peterl7578]

Andrew Miller

[@OfficialGeronimo]

@@peterl7578 thanks

[@fersantana7296]

Cool

[@bigbraintimes]

A real star seed.

[@listenhere2006]

she so cool

[@Lynne-28]

💟 HEARTWARMING 💟 How wise Hilma was to stay away from the limelight. The jealous, patriarchal "rulers" of the Art World would probably have mocked and ridiculed her, tried to squelch her theosophical work... perhaps thrown orange paint or sludgy mud all over it before setting it on fire. Hitler, undoubtedly would have destroyed it, calling it "degenerate".🐌

[@TheAngelicRider]

I feel this woman inspired one of the characters from Archive 81 on Netflix. If anyone agrees let me know!

[@aguilar...693]

Crop Circles .....colors

[@tracey9557]

Came from tiktok to look her up 😊

[@MagpieCrafter]

Incredible. I have a feeling that Lady Frieda Harris and/or Crowley knew of her work. It's just too close to the Thoth Tarot.

[@karenbolton9526]

Sacred geometry

[@abyad31]

cool

[@Clickwrap]

Why is there so many salty people in the comments? Lol. These are beautiful.

[@alexweschler9470]

Where? I read through the comments and genuinely have no idea what saltiness you’re pointing to

[@frankitopri1762]

hola

[@johannawatsonclivegunton1217]

golly gosh

[@enemdisk6628]

Why does she write in German though she is Swedish?

[@peterl7578]

As far as I can see she writes in Swedish...

[@noraluzcalugas2731]

Hilma Klint, Esoteric 🎨 Woman 🛡️🌐♀️Artist, Swedish 🖼️🖌️Pioneer

[@lamecasuelas2]

She was a weirdo among weirdos, i like her

[@macymakesmagic]

The sound quality in thus video is poor. The background music detracts further from the video’s meaning.

[@SwordOfTheRaven]

Avatar the last air bender intro

[@robertarisz8464]

If I had another daughter I would name her Hilma.

[@vickistone3700]

I thought absract art was an intellectual exploration, but these are are a spiritual message, so are the "abstract" art?

[@starmanjesus5679]

Vicki Stone no it is not, it is not even art it’s propaganda

[@starmanjesus5679]

Fortescue a rather mediocre art but since she’s a woman and we are revisiting the history of art through the lens of ideology and not the real value of those paintings we are sayin’ she’s better than kandinsky, plenty of great women in art history but not her in my modest, humble opinion

[@jessewaughcom]

It seems like the art canon may finally be losing its power.

[@chocolatesauces]

How do you mean?

[@honeymaru68]

@@chocolatesauces I'm also curious what is meant in that statement

[@gL1135]

I think he means the narrative story of art as it developed. If af Klint's work predates the artists work like Kandinsky then it throws that narrative /Canon into disarray. And if af Klint did that then it is possible that more undiscovered artists may have also. This means textbooks may have to change and the narrative of how and whom did the earliest representation of a whatever it is came about. I hope this helps. Edit: "af Klint"...not "after Klint". Darn autocorrect. But then again she was the first so "after Klint" makes sense I guess. 👍🏿

[@LukeTheArtist96]

Don't be fooled. There's always a narrative. There's just a new one being written.

[@YenPeregrine]

The writing in this video is insane. Hilma was obviously struggling with severe mental illness and was also a brilliant artist. Kind of like what we know about Van Gough. There is no message that humanity wasn't ready for, she was talking to her own mental illness and suffered from that. She didn't show her works because she was hallucinating the reason why because she was sick. Her work is awesome, and some of my favorite, but the story and the person deserve to be told as a truth, not like this. Van Gough never had any success in life and died untethered from reality. His struggle was sad, but his mind created beautiful works. Hilma is no different, but this video reacts to her as though whoever the bizarro writers are are ready to join her cult. Hilma and Van Gough both hallucinated things and painted from those hallucinations. They both had a "Theo" supporting them. They both tried to show their works a couple times, but failed. They were both around famous artists, and had a lot of connections that could have gone somewhere, but the both probably made whoever they were around uncomfortable, and couldn't make someone see past their mental illness. Yet these two people, and their stories are told very differently. I feel like covering it from the angle of brilliant artists can't find success unless they fit in is probably more realistic here.

[@johnkennedy9486]

Very talented. But strange.

[@jonnawyatt]

I see science in her paintings, not spirituality.

[@farrellmase]

Spiritual realm cannot be separate from the scientific.. they are paired in the same system. scientific exploration is unfolding and uncovering the spiritual..

[@TruDeinoz]

Looks cool, but lets not get carried away. She hid her art, because the world wasn't ready? Maybe she was just insecure? I understand nobody likes being rejected. Visions and spirits guided her painting? Maybe just schizophrenia or some other mental disorder. Reality is often disappointing. lol. Please don't get all defensive. I actually like her work. Anyone know where the next exhibition is? Maybe somewhere in Europe?

[@starmanjesus5679]

it’s a bluff and a little bit ideological and ridiculous: how can a serious museum like the guggenheim show these decorative flowers pretending to be abstract art

[@chocolatesauces]

This isn't abstract enough for you?

[@peopleunite3605]

so says the 'male' artist

[@starmanjesus5679]

babayaga108 oh come on, don’t be silly, we judge the art beyond the ideology, plenty of great ‘female’ artist, abstract artists such as anni albers or agnes martin far better than this ridiculous flowers, this is pure ideology (and idiocy)

[@mypandawilleatyou38]

The other artist you mentioned? How can you like their work and not Hilmas? There are so many similarities yet one is less then the other? What the hell is wrong with flowers? Flowers are a natural beauty of the earth, not decoration. Do you realize how much precision and meaning she poured into her art? Try to do what she did. Pick out colors that complement each other, assigned meanings to them and express their relationship in the painting. Making patterns like this may seem easier with modern technology but by hand? The scale and amount of her work, Jesus Christ. If you can’t see why this is amazing there’s nothing I can say to change that but this is not the scribbles of a child. Spirituality may seem silly and unrealistic to you but that was how she truly saw the world. Art is an opportunity to see inside someone’s mind and hers should be seen.

[@mypandawilleatyou38]

If you want to better understanding you should look into sacred geometry

[@davidstocker5736]

Sorry, but this was possibility the worst collection of any artist's work I've ever had the misfortune to view in a major gallery. I wouldn't want to own a single piece, or hang a reproduction in my home. And I speak as someone who has broad taste in art, and who has visited umpteen exhibitions in London (I live in the UK) and elsewhere in the World.

[@sabrinabonanomi2277]

You have no idea what you are talking about. Sorry. It is abstract and spiritual, I really think that Hilma is unique. Her art speaks for itself.

[@JK-fz6tk]

All you express here is your own subjective antipathy. Could you say something more objective about why you feel the way you do?

[@davidstocker5736]

I do. I see a huge amount of art. 'Hilma is unique' is meaningless. We are all unique. Obviously the work is abstract, but define 'spiritual'. I do not know what the word means. And look at the work of Tomma Abts if you want to see a class act.

[@late_privktorian_era]

LOL fuck off "David"

[@chocolatesauces]

Wow it seems like you have seen a lot of art and know exactly what you're talking about!

[@sebhammond3841]

Wow.