The Complications of Hilma af Klint

By now, many people are familiar with the story of Swedish painter and occultist, Hilma af Klint (1862-1944). Subject of several major museum exhibitions—including most-attended-ever exhibits at the Guggenheim, New York and the Moderna Museet, Stockholm—her vibrant, innovative, and highly metaphysical paintings have firmly entered the public consciousness and are finally taking their place in 20th-century art history. Trained as a painter, she became a spiritualist and later received a commission from her spirit guides to complete a series of monumental artworks. In the process, she invented abstract art but was discouraged from continuing and ultimately worked in isolation—never sharing her spiritual works publicly in her lifetime—as result of sharp criticism from her male peers.
Is this the real story of Hilma af Klint? Artist, educator, and theosophical researcher Michael Carter, MFA will discuss af Klint’s biography and the parallel development of her artwork in relation to turn-of-the-20th-century esoteric spiritual societies. Carter will address her involvement in the Spiritualist, Theosophical, and Anthroposophical movements and her fateful meeting with Rudolph Steiner. He will reveal the influence of specific esoteric doctrines and concepts in af Klint's most well-known artworks. Additionally, he will illuminate little-known connections to Southern California and the Philosophical Research Society itself. In total, he will create a space for a more authentic understanding of af Klint to emerge.
Speaker bio:
Michael Carter received his MFA from Claremont Graduate University in 2010. His work is an inquiry into metaphysical theories of art and has been exhibited extensively locally and abroad, including recent exhibitions in Denmark and Romania. He has studied Blavatskian theosophy for more than a decade.

[koirakoira]

Thank you for this lecture! Thank you so much for having this online. What a great contextualisation here to Hilma af Klint's work and time. - I believe it is now (since 2020 or so) considered that the painting you showed at the start and at the end is NOT in fact a self-portrait, but a portrait of her friend and fellow artist, Lotten Rönquist.

[olgaolgakkk]

Thank you for making this video! Very interesting, thoughtfully crafted, and entertaining.

[vibui]

I was the 444th like :-) thank you for the fascinating lecture. It is indeed interesting. I am a bit much obsessed with Hilma af Klint recently.

Thank you Michael for this amazing lecture!

[StephanieThomasBerry]

I so enjoyed this lecture, thank you! I am very curious about Hilma af Klint's relationship with Rudolf Steiner. You quote someone at 34:00, regarding their meeting in 1908: "He witnessed the entire body of work which had been established by his lead and expressed himself on the painting." You go on to say that he held the guidance of spirits in a lower regard, and that he encouraged her to develop her own inner faculties more. So many questions! So first off, what is meant by her body of work being "established by his lead?" And also, is it possible that Steiner may have, in a sense, sort of shut down af Klint in a way by devaluing her method of receiving spiritual guidance? It's interesting that later in life she works with watercolor in a way that seems so heavily influenced by Steiner.

I was so struck by this part of your lecture that I wrote about it at length in my own journal this morning. Specifically, I was curious about the thoughts of mediumship. As an artist myself--and I'm sure you have this experience as well--there is an opening that occurs within the psyche, that allows for something to be received. I'm fascinated with Hilda af Klint's decision to really develop that aspect of the creative process, to the extent that she received a commission from a spiritual being. That is really astonishing and revolutionary! And I wonder if this is perhaps something that Steiner didn't understand. I think of mediumship as a particularly feminine aspect of the creative process, and am not surprised that it would have been suspect.

I'm so interested in your thoughts. Thank you again for a really marvelous lecture.

[lstaugaard]

this is A MILLION TIMES BETTER than the documentary Beyond the Visible

[melanie-rosecantin]

I have greatly enjoyed this lecture. In my Montessori studies and teaching to the 0-3 years old, I have observed that children go through the same stages of art development. It starts with the love of movement on a surface as soon as the hand is free to representation of the human being around 3-4 years old. I was astonished that this was a universal unfolding that took place in all of us if we let the process unfolds. The work of Arno Stern and the jeu de peindre also points towards an unfolding of phases which he saw in various cultures. He says that in recent decades this unfolding is more and more difficult to reclaim later on in life. If af Klint experienced free painting maybe she found herself on a path of unfolding phases or is it too organized a body of work to make that kind of assumption? I also wondered if Goethe would not be the source of the design of the seven rays as in his Theory of Colors there were rays but not organized the same way.

[the.mermaid.scientist]

That was fascinating!! My Diagnostic Molecular Biology professor introduced me to Hilma af Klint in one of his lectures. I love looking at all the organic & biological forms in her pieces and making the connections between our physical and spiritual realms :)

[HelloWandererAustralia]

I just watched this for the second time as I’m about to go to the Art Gallery of NSW in Sydney to see some of her work. Thanks for sharing this lecture and for being in the right place, at the right time, with the right information 👍🏼

[MimiYouyu]

So much great information in this lecture, I have watched it twice and still got more 2nd time. It makes me feel I should like to know more about the Five and about Hilmas day to day life. Thanks for your work Michael. 🙏

[myefate]

I am so grateful for your effort to put her work and its spiritual elements together again. I really enjoyed the lecture 🙏

[rushartstudios]

Comprehensive, fascinating, and thought-provoking. Thank you

[lillaohrstrom]

This is an excellent talk, which I am so grateful to have heard. Very important work deserving of attention.

[mrslandanna]

Interesting but it left me with a question. If her work is based on or influenced by these texts why couldn't Steiner explain them to af Klint? I assume that he as leader of this movement in Europe was well informed.

[riri]

This was a wonderful watch. The closing statements brought me to tears. Well done, Michael Carter.

[CallieTherian]

Thank you Michael for a fascinating lecture, broadening one´s knowledge from a quality standpoint is always immensely satisfying.

[jzhechang]

thank you so much for sharing this information

[mtomat]

This was amazing and I have watched it many times. I am writing my dissertation on HaK and only on her first body of work, up to 1915. Could you pls be so kind and elucidate on the ref about the colour spectrum? Harmon Manuscript? Can I find anything online about it? I am based in the UK, hence I could not come there. Thank you, I really appreciate that!

[luciebrown]

Fascinating. I love the links between time and country. Thank you for sharing.