Matignon, Paris
Hilma af Klint
Hilma af Klint
Grand PalaisHilma af Klint (1862-1944) was very much ahead of all the major movements of the 20th century and rewrote the timeline of modern art. Well before such established figures of abstract art as Kandinsky and Malevich, she produced paintings that were esoteric in inspiration and exceptional in their audacity, combining geometry, areas of bright colour and organic motifs. Although this pioneering artist remained in the shadows for many years, she is now considered a major figure of modernity, capable of transcending the boundaries between art, science and spirituality and continuing to inspire new generations. Come and discover the very first solo exhibition dedicated to this Swedish artist in France. The Grand Palais and Centre Pompidou are organising a key event by exhibiting her major work, the “Paintings for the Temple” cycle (1906-1915), for the first time in France, including the celebrated and monumental series of “The Ten Largest”, a testimony to the visionary power of an artist who was undeniably ahead of her time. Hilma af Klint trained at the Stockholm Royal Academy of Fine Art and led a double life as an artist, following convention with her traditional figurative works and producing her resolutely avant-garde pieces in secret. Stimulated by her involvement in the Theosophical Society, she drew the freedom of her inspiration from spiritualist séances with a group of other women with whom she shared the same utopian vision. Spirals, circles and beams translate a quest for cosmic harmony and the invisible forces that govern the world, endowing her works with a universal and timeless quality. Hilma af Klint chose not to show her abstract pieces to her contemporaries, stating in her will that she wished for her work to be kept sealed until 20 years after her death. This contributed to a belated recognition of the artist’s oeuvre and it was only in 1986 that her abstract paintings were presented to the general public for the first time in the exhibition “The Spiritual in Art, Abstract Painting 1890-1985” in Los Angeles, marking the beginning of her international renown. To this day, there has been no major monographic exhibition devoted to the artist in France. However in the past few years, her work has undergone a significant reassessment, particularly in the context of a reinterpretation of the role of women in modern art, such as with “Women in Abstraction” at Centre Pompidou in 2021. Although there is very little place for Hilma af Klint in French museums, she is now considered by the entire world to be an essential artist of modern art and the historic origins of abstraction. This exhibition is more than a retrospective homage – it highlights the multiple sources of inspiration behind the artist’s body of work (esotericism, folklore and folk art, scientific culture) and interrogates the ways in which art history has long ignored female artists and their contributions to founding movements.