In 2018, the Guggenheim Museum in New York City mounted an exhibition of large paintings by the Swedish artist Hilma af Klint (1867-1944) created between 1903 and 1915, works that immediately transformed the understanding of the development of abstract art. Her works defied the conventional timeline of the beginnings of radical abstraction as well as its presumed originators–generally attributed to a long list of male painters dating from Malevich to Pollock. Art historians and art lovers of all kinds flocked to the show, mesmerized by af Klint’s paintings and the show became one of the most popular exhibitions in the Guggenheim’s history. In his new graphic biography of af Klint, Phillipp Deines retells the key moments of her life and career, from her family’s background and her training as an artist, to her embrace of spiritualism, her relationships, and the visionary act of withdrawing her paintings from public view until the arrival of an audience better prepared to embrace her work. In this 9-page excerpt, Deines depicts af Klint’s path to making abstract paintings, the role of spiritualism–direct communication with the spirit world–in her life, and the individuals that helped to shape her distinctive and innovative works of art. The Five Lives of Hilma af Klint by Philipp Deines, with an afterword by Julia Voss, is out now from David Zwirner Books.
