Hilma af Klint: Notes and Methods

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9780226591933
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Edited by Christine Burgin and with an Introduction and Commentary by Iris Mller-Westermann

At the turn of the twentieth century, Swedish artist Hilma af Klint (18621944) created a body of work that left visible reality behind, exploring the radical possibilities of abstraction years before Vasily Kandinsky, Kazimir Malevich, or Piet Mondrian. Many consider her the first trained artist to create abstract paintings. With Hilma af Klint: Notes and Methods, we get to experience the arc of af Klints artistic investigation in her own words.

Hilma af Klint studied at the Royal Swedish Academy in Stockholm where she was part of the first generation of female students. Up until the beginning of the century, she painted mainly landscapes and detailed botanical studies. Her work from this period was that of a young artist of her time who meticulously observed the world around her. But, like many of her contemporaries, af Klint was also interested in the invisible relationships that shape our world, believing strongly in a spiritual dimension. She joined the Theosophical Society, and, with four fellow female members who together called themselves The Five, began to study mediumship. Between 1906 and 1915, purportedly guided by a higher power, af Klint created 193 individual works that, in both scale and scope of imagery, are like no other art created at that time. Botanically inspired images and mystical symbols, diagrams, words, and geometric series, all form part of af Klints abstract language. These abstract techniques would not be seen again until years later.

Notes and Methods presents facsimile reproductions of a wide array of af Klints early notebooks accompanied by the first English translation of af Klints extensive writings. It contains the rarely seen Blue Notebooks, hand-painted and annotated catalogues af Klint created of her most famous series Paintings for the Temple, and a dictionary compiled by af Klint of the words and letters found in her work. This extraordinary collection is edited by and copublished with Christine Burgin, and features an introduction by Iris Mller-Westermann. It will stand as an important and timely contribution to the legacy of Hilma af Klint.

  • Hardcover
  • 288 pages
  • 300 color plates
  • 7.5" wide x 10" tall
  • Published in 2018


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Description

Edited by Christine Burgin and with an Introduction and Commentary by Iris Mller-Westermann

At the turn of the twentieth century, Swedish artist Hilma af Klint (18621944) created a body of work that left visible reality behind, exploring the radical possibilities of abstraction years before Vasily Kandinsky, Kazimir Malevich, or Piet Mondrian. Many consider her the first trained artist to create abstract paintings. With Hilma af Klint: Notes and Methods, we get to experience the arc of af Klints artistic investigation in her own words.

Hilma af Klint studied at the Royal Swedish Academy in Stockholm where she was part of the first generation of female students. Up until the beginning of the century, she painted mainly landscapes and detailed botanical studies. Her work from this period was that of a young artist of her time who meticulously observed the world around her. But, like many of her contemporaries, af Klint was also interested in the invisible relationships that shape our world, believing strongly in a spiritual dimension. She joined the Theosophical Society, and, with four fellow female members who together called themselves The Five, began to study mediumship. Between 1906 and 1915, purportedly guided by a higher power, af Klint created 193 individual works that, in both scale and scope of imagery, are like no other art created at that time. Botanically inspired images and mystical symbols, diagrams, words, and geometric series, all form part of af Klints abstract language. These abstract techniques would not be seen again until years later.

Notes and Methods presents facsimile reproductions of a wide array of af Klints early notebooks accompanied by the first English translation of af Klints extensive writings. It contains the rarely seen Blue Notebooks, hand-painted and annotated catalogues af Klint created of her most famous series Paintings for the Temple, and a dictionary compiled by af Klint of the words and letters found in her work. This extraordinary collection is edited by and copublished with Christine Burgin, and features an introduction by Iris Mller-Westermann. It will stand as an important and timely contribution to the legacy of Hilma af Klint.

  • Hardcover
  • 288 pages
  • 300 color plates
  • 7.5" wide x 10" tall
  • Published in 2018
Artist Vasily Kandinsky


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