In the Style of Hilma af Klint

Written by Screenpunk, 2025 April 15.
Images by Screenpunk on Midjourney, except where noted otherwise.

Recently I stumbled upon the works of Hilma af Klint (1862-1944), a Swedish painter whose abstract art predates Kandinsky, Malevich and Mondriaan. Born in Stockholm and classically trained, af Klint rerouted the direction of her work into spiritualism. Seances and meditative sessions provided her with inspiration for developing a enormous body of work, that she carefully shut off from public exposure.

After her death in 1944, Af Klint's work kept lingering in the shadow of public life. The Museum Of Modern Art in New York had a small exposition in 1989. But when the Guggenheim Museum organized in 2018 a ground breaking retrospective, the world came to know Af Klint. And although her work did not transcend into full abstraction, she is considered the first abstract painter. Stepping back from material life into the spiritual, over colorful patterns, curvatures and geometries she developed a unique blend of symbolism, that now ressonates world wide.

Portrait photo of Hilma af Klint by an unknown photographer

Within a group of like minded women (The Five) Af Klint realized her connection with the spiritual over seances and meditative sessions. Af Klint was the painter of the group, and the mystical encounters provided guidance on both the symbolic and visual aspects of her paintings. She considered her work to be visual representations of spiritual truths, intended to bridge the gap between physical and metaphysical realms.

The series Paintings for the Temple, created from 1907 onwards, colorfuly demonstrates her translation of the spiritual into structures and shapes. In contrast to the work of Piet Modriaan, Af Klint's colors are soft, the use of geometry is curved, and structures are assembled with complex a-symmetries. Af Klint's work has an intrinsic openness, that invites observers into new worlds of consiousness and experience.

Installation view of The Ten Largest (part of Paintings for the Temple) at the Hilma af Klint: The Secret Painting exhibition at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, 12 June – 19 September 2021. Photo: Jenni Carter © AGNSW

With or without the spiritual connection, Af Klint provides an exciting inspiration. Reference to the style of Hilma af Klinnt brings out an open, inviting dimension in AI generated artwork. Image elements are structured over friendly curved shapes. And as far as Mondriaan can be considerred to bring out hard edged, rational, male structures, and ditto color schemes in artwork, Af Klint can be considerred to bring out a more peaceful, feminine counterpart.

Af Klint kept her work hidden because she was under the impression that her audience would not be ready for the conceptions of her work. She considerred her work Paintings for the Future. With the launch of her work by The Guggenheim Museum, and the follow up of succesful exhibitions world wide, the future has arrived for Hilma af Klint. In the presence of war, autoritairism, robber states and imperialism, one can only hope that the soft, spiritual sides of her work can help out. AI artists can help spread these dimensions, so, use, use, use the style of Hilma af Klint!