Hilma af Klint.
A pioneer of abstraction June 15, 2013 - October 6, 2013
Hamburger Bahnhof - National Gallery of the Present

From June 15 to October 6, 2013, the Nationalgalerie in Hamburger Bahnhof is showing a retrospective of the Swedish artist Hilma af Klint (1862–1944), a pioneer of abstract art who created her first abstract works as early as 1906.

With around 200 works, the exhibition shows Hilma af Klint's most important abstract works as well as paintings and works on paper that have never been exhibited before. For them, as for other pioneers of abstract art - such as Wassily Kandinsky, Piet Mondrian and Kazimir Malevich - the spiritual dimension of the works was essential. Like many artists and intellectuals of her generation, she was interested in theosophy and anthroposophy, and participation in spiritualist séances provided decisive impulses for her artistic work. Her work can be understood as an attempt to gain a deeper understanding of the world and human existence.

Hilma af Klint created over 1000 paintings, sketches and watercolors. However, she did not exhibit her abstract works during her lifetime. According to her will, these works would not be made available to the public until 20 years after her death, as she believed that her contemporaries were not yet able to grasp their full significance. It was not until the 1980s that the abstract works were finally exhibited and appreciated for the first time. Despite her significant contribution to the history of abstract art, Hilma af Klint's oeuvre remains largely unknown today. The exhibition, shown in Stockholm, Berlin and Malaga, offers a unique overview of the work of this outstanding artist.