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Occultism and Spiritualism Inspired Hilma af Klint’s Paintings</h1><p class="mb-3">Spiritual ideas and occult movements played an important role in Hilma af Klint’s abstract art. Her paintings served as a depiction of her spiritual knowledge, research, and experience.</p><div class="author-top"><span>Sep 19, 2021</span><span> • </span><span>By </span><a href="/author/stefanie-graf/">Stefanie Graf</a><span class="education">, MA in progress, BA in Art History</span></div></div><div class="col-md-12 d-md-block"></div></div><article class="article-post article-list-css" id="firstPagePost"><p><center><img alt="Hilma af Klint beautiful portrait" fetchpriority="high" width="1200" height="690" decoding="async" data-nimg="1" class="figure-img img-fluid" style="color:transparent;object-fit:contain" sizes="(max-width: 992px) 100vw, 66vw" srcSet="https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Hilma-af-Klint-beautiful-portrait.jpg?width=480&quality=70 480w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Hilma-af-Klint-beautiful-portrait.jpg?width=600&quality=70 600w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Hilma-af-Klint-beautiful-portrait.jpg?width=640&quality=70 640w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Hilma-af-Klint-beautiful-portrait.jpg?width=750&quality=70 750w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Hilma-af-Klint-beautiful-portrait.jpg?width=828&quality=70 828w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Hilma-af-Klint-beautiful-portrait.jpg?width=1080&quality=70 1080w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Hilma-af-Klint-beautiful-portrait.jpg?width=1200&quality=70 1200w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Hilma-af-Klint-beautiful-portrait.jpg?width=1400&quality=70 1400w" src="https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Hilma-af-Klint-beautiful-portrait.jpg?width=1400&quality=70"/></center></p> <p class="firstL"> </p> <p class="firstL">Spiritual and occult movements were very popular in late 19th and early 20th century Europe and America, especially among artists. New inventions and scientific discoveries such as X-Rays made people question their everyday experience and look for something beyond the limits of ordinary sensory perception. Hilma af Klint was no exception. Her paintings were heavily influenced by spiritualism. Af Klint’s work is not only one of the first examples of abstract art, but also an illustration of various occult ideas, spiritual movements, and her own experiences during séances.</p> <p> </p> <div><h2 style="padding-top:20px;padding-bottom:30px"><b>Hilma af Klint’s Spiritual Influences</b></h2></div> <figure id="attachment_44624" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-44624" style="margin:0 0 1rem 0" class="figure"><center><img class="figure-img img-fluid-vertical" decoding="async" src="https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-swedish-painter-photo.jpg" alt="hilma af klint swedish painter photo" width="555" height="800" srcSet="https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-swedish-painter-photo.jpg 833w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-swedish-painter-photo-208x300.jpg 208w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-swedish-painter-photo-711x1024.jpg 711w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-swedish-painter-photo-768x1106.jpg 768w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-swedish-painter-photo-150x216.jpg 150w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-swedish-painter-photo-300x432.jpg 300w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-swedish-painter-photo-600x864.jpg 600w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-swedish-painter-photo-696x1003.jpg 696w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-swedish-painter-photo-292x420.jpg 292w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-swedish-painter-photo-583x840.jpg 583w"/></center><figcaption id="caption-attachment-44624" class="figure-caption"><a href="https://www.guggenheim.org/blogs/checklist/who-was-hilma-af-klint-at-the-guggenheim-paintings-by-an-artist-ahead-of-her-time" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Photo of Hilma af Klint</a>, ca. 1895, via Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York</figcaption></figure> <p> </p> <p><a href="https://www.thecollector.com/hilma-af-klint-abstract-art/">Hilma af Klint</a> was born in Stockholm in 1862. She died in 1944. When she was only 17 years old, she participated in her first séances during which people attempted to communicate with the spirits of the dead. After her younger sister Hermina died in 1880, af Klint became even more involved with spiritualism and tried to contact her sibling’s spirit. The artist joined <a href="https://www.thecollector.com/modern-artists-influenced-by-occult/">several spiritual and occult movements during her</a> lifetime and studied some of their teachings intensely. <a href="https://www.thecollector.com/hilma-af-klint-work-recurring-symbols/">Her art</a> was greatly influenced by her connection to the Theosophical movement and she also drew inspiration from Rosicrucianism and Anthroposophy.</p> <p> </p> <h2><b>Theosophy </b></h2> <figure id="attachment_44623" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-44623" style="margin:0 0 1rem 0" class="figure"><center><img class="figure-img img-fluid-vertical" decoding="async" src="https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-photo-1901.jpg" alt="hilma af klint photo 1901" width="607" height="800" srcSet="https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-photo-1901.jpg 911w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-photo-1901-228x300.jpg 228w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-photo-1901-777x1024.jpg 777w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-photo-1901-768x1012.jpg 768w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-photo-1901-150x198.jpg 150w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-photo-1901-300x395.jpg 300w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-photo-1901-600x790.jpg 600w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-photo-1901-696x917.jpg 696w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-photo-1901-319x420.jpg 319w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-photo-1901-638x840.jpg 638w"/></center><figcaption id="caption-attachment-44623" class="figure-caption"><a href="https://www.modernamuseet.se/stockholm/en/exhibitions/hilma-af-klint-2013/biography/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Photo of Hilma af Klint</a>, via Moderna Museet, Stockholm</figcaption></figure> <p> </p> <p>The Theosophical movement was founded by Helena Blavatsky and Colonel H.S. Olcott in 1875. The word “theosophy” comes from the <a href="https://www.thecollector.com/greek-mythology-5-essential-fables-ancient-greece">Greek</a> terms <i>theos</i> – which means god – and <i>sophia</i> – which means wisdom. It can therefore be translated as <i>divine wisdom</i>. Theosophy supports the idea that there is a <a href="https://www.thecollector.com/what-is-renaissance-philosophy-mysticism/">mystical truth</a> beyond human consciousness that can be accessed through a transcending state of the mind, such as meditation. Theosophists believe that the whole universe is one single entity. Their teachings also represent the thought that humans have seven stages of consciousness and that the spirit gets reincarnated. <a href="https://www.guggenheim.org/blogs/checklist/inspiration-and-influence-the-spiritual-journey-of-artist-hilma-af-klint" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Hilma af Klint depicted all these ideas</a> in her abstract art.</p> <p> </p> <h2><b>Rosicrucianism</b></h2> <figure id="attachment_44625" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-44625" style="margin:0 0 1rem 0" class="figure"><center><img class="figure-img img-fluid" decoding="async" src="https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-the-ten-largest-abstract-art.jpg" alt="hilma af klint the ten largest abstract art" width="1546" height="800" srcSet="https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-the-ten-largest-abstract-art.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-the-ten-largest-abstract-art-300x155.jpg 300w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-the-ten-largest-abstract-art-1024x530.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-the-ten-largest-abstract-art-768x397.jpg 768w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-the-ten-largest-abstract-art-150x78.jpg 150w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-the-ten-largest-abstract-art-600x311.jpg 600w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-the-ten-largest-abstract-art-696x360.jpg 696w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-the-ten-largest-abstract-art-1068x553.jpg 1068w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-the-ten-largest-abstract-art-812x420.jpg 812w"/></center><figcaption id="caption-attachment-44625" class="figure-caption"><a href="https://www.guggenheim.org/blogs/checklist/who-was-hilma-af-klint-at-the-guggenheim-paintings-by-an-artist-ahead-of-her-time" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Installation view of Hilma af Klint’s group The Ten Largest</a>, via Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York</figcaption></figure> <div><div class="mb-5 bg-dark CTA"><div class="row justify-content-between CTAWidth"><div class="col-md-6 mb-2 mb-md-0 CTA-text"><h3 class="secondfont" style="font-size:0.8em">Get the latest articles delivered to your inbox</h3><span> Sign up to our Free Weekly Newsletter</span></div><div class="col-md-6 CTA-input"><div><div id="mlb2-4044109" class="ml-form-embedContainer"><div><div class="ml-form-embedWrapper embedForm"><div class="ml-form-embedBody ml-form-embedBodyHorizontal row-form"><div class="ml-form-embedContent" style="margin-bottom:0"></div><form class="ml-block-form" action=""><div class="ml-form-formContent horozintalForm"><div class="ml-form-horizontalRow"><div class="ml-input-horizontal"><div style="width:100%" class="horizontal-fields"><div class="ml-field-group ml-field-email ml-validate-email ml-validate-required"><input type="email" class="form-control" placeholder="Email Address" autoComplete="email" value=""/></div></div></div><div class="ml-button-horizontal primary"><button type="button" class="" disabled="" style="cursor:not-allowed;opacity:80%">Join!</button></div></div></div></form></div></div></div></div></div></div><div class="ml-form-successBody row-success col-md-12 text-center" style="display:none"><div class="ml-form-successContent"><h3>Please check your inbox to activate your subscription</h3><span>Thank you!</span></div></div></div></div><div style="margin-bottom:20px"></div><p> </p></div> <p>Rosicrucianism has its roots in the 17th century. It was named after its symbol, which depicts a rose on a cross. Members of the movement believe that ancient wisdom was passed on to them and that this knowledge is only available to Rosicrucians and not to the general public. The esoteric movement combines aspects of <a href="https://blogs.uoregon.edu/rel399f14drreis/hermeticism/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Hermeticism</a>, alchemy, and Jewish as well as <a href="https://www.thecollector.com/early-religious-art-monotheism-judaism-christianity-islam">Christian</a> mysticism. The influence of Rosicrucianism on <a href="https://www.thecollector.com/was-wassily-kandinsky-influenced-by-hilma-af-klint/">Hilma af Klint’s</a> work is documented in her notebooks. She also used symbols of the Rosicrucian movement in her <a href="https://www.thecollector.com/abstract-art-vs-abstract-expressionism">abstract art</a>.</p> <p> </p> <div><h2 style="padding-top:20px;padding-bottom:30px"><b>Anthroposophy</b></h2></div> <figure id="attachment_44622" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-44622" style="margin:0 0 1rem 0" class="figure"><center><img class="figure-img img-fluid" decoding="async" src="https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-photo.jpg" alt="hilma af klint photo" width="1200" height="675" srcSet="https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-photo.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-photo-300x169.jpg 300w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-photo-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-photo-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-photo-150x84.jpg 150w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-photo-600x338.jpg 600w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-photo-696x392.jpg 696w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-photo-1068x601.jpg 1068w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-photo-747x420.jpg 747w"/></center><figcaption id="caption-attachment-44622" class="figure-caption"><a href="https://www.guggenheim.org/blogs/checklist/inspiration-and-influence-the-spiritual-journey-of-artist-hilma-af-klint" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Photo of Hilma af Klint</a>, 1910s, via Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York</figcaption></figure> <p> </p> <p>The Anthroposophical movement was founded at the beginning of the 20th century by the Austrian philosopher <a href="https://www.design-museum.de/en/exhibitions/detailpages/rudolf-steiner.html" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Rudolf Steiner</a>. The movement’s teachings postulate that the human mind can communicate with an objective spiritual realm through the intellect. According to Steiner, to perceive this spiritual world the mind must achieve a state free from any sensory experience.</p> <p> </p> <p>Despite the fact that Rudolf Steiner did not appreciate Hilma af Klint’s paintings and spiritual work, the artist joined the Anthroposophical Society in 1920. She studied Anthroposophy for a long time. <a href="https://www.brainpickings.org/2012/08/17/goethe-theory-of-colours/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Goethe’s Color Theory</a>, which was endorsed by the Anthroposophical movement, became a lifelong theme in her work. Hilma af Klint left the movement in 1930 since she did not find enough information about the meaning of her abstract art in the teachings of Anthroposophy.</p> <p> </p> <h2><b>Hilma af Klint and </b><b><i>The Five</i></b></h2> <figure id="attachment_44627" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-44627" style="margin:0 0 1rem 0" class="figure"><center><img class="figure-img img-fluid" decoding="async" src="https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/seance-room-hilma-af-klint.jpg" alt="séance room hilma af klint" width="1077" height="800" srcSet="https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/seance-room-hilma-af-klint.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/seance-room-hilma-af-klint-300x223.jpg 300w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/seance-room-hilma-af-klint-1024x760.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/seance-room-hilma-af-klint-768x570.jpg 768w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/seance-room-hilma-af-klint-150x111.jpg 150w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/seance-room-hilma-af-klint-600x446.jpg 600w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/seance-room-hilma-af-klint-485x360.jpg 485w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/seance-room-hilma-af-klint-970x720.jpg 970w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/seance-room-hilma-af-klint-696x517.jpg 696w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/seance-room-hilma-af-klint-1068x793.jpg 1068w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/seance-room-hilma-af-klint-566x420.jpg 566w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/seance-room-hilma-af-klint-1131x840.jpg 1131w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/seance-room-hilma-af-klint-80x60.jpg 80w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/seance-room-hilma-af-klint-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/seance-room-hilma-af-klint-265x198.jpg 265w"/></center><figcaption id="caption-attachment-44627" class="figure-caption"><a href="https://www.guggenheim.org/blogs/checklist/inspiration-and-influence-the-spiritual-journey-of-artist-hilma-af-klint" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Photo of the room where the séances of “The Five” took place</a>, c. 1890, via Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York</figcaption></figure> <p> </p> <p>Hilma af Klint and four other women founded a spiritual group called <i>The Five</i> in 1896. The women met regularly for sessions during which they would communicate with the spirit world through séances. They performed their sessions in a dedicated room with an altar exhibiting the Rosicrucian symbol of a rose in the middle of a cross.</p> <p> </p> <p>During the séances, the women allegedly made contact with spirits and spiritual leaders. They called the leaders<i> high masters.</i> Members of <i>The Five</i> documented their sessions in several notebooks. These séances and conversations with the high masters eventually led to the creation of af Klint’s abstract art.</p> <p> </p> <h2><b>The Paintings for the Temple</b></h2> <figure id="attachment_44620" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-44620" style="margin:0 0 1rem 0" class="figure"><center><img class="figure-img img-fluid-vertical" decoding="async" src="https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-altarpieces-paintings-temple.jpg" alt="hilma af klint altarpieces paintings temple" width="605" height="800" srcSet="https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-altarpieces-paintings-temple.jpg 907w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-altarpieces-paintings-temple-227x300.jpg 227w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-altarpieces-paintings-temple-774x1024.jpg 774w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-altarpieces-paintings-temple-768x1016.jpg 768w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-altarpieces-paintings-temple-150x198.jpg 150w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-altarpieces-paintings-temple-300x397.jpg 300w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-altarpieces-paintings-temple-600x794.jpg 600w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-altarpieces-paintings-temple-696x921.jpg 696w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-altarpieces-paintings-temple-317x420.jpg 317w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-altarpieces-paintings-temple-635x840.jpg 635w"/></center><figcaption id="caption-attachment-44620" class="figure-caption"><a href="https://www.guggenheim.org/audio/track/group-x-altarpieces-nos-1-3-1915-by-hilma-af-klint" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Hilma af Klint, Group X, No. 1, Altarpiece</a>, 1915, via Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York</figcaption></figure> <p> </p> <p>During a séance in the year 1906, a spirit called Amaliel allegedly commissioned Hilma af Klint to make paintings for the temple. The artist documented the assignment in her notebook and wrote that it was the largest work she was to perform in her life. This series of artworks, called <i>The Paintings for the Temple</i>, was created between 1906 and 1915. It features 193 paintings that are divided into various subgroups. The general idea of <i>The Paintings for the Temple</i> was to depict the <a href="https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/monism/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">monistic</a> nature of the world. The works should represent that everything in the world is one.</p> <p> </p> <p>The spiritual quality of the series is also apparent in Hilma af Klint’s description of its making: “The pictures were painted directly through me, without any preliminary drawings, and with great force. I had no idea what the paintings were supposed to depict; nevertheless I worked swiftly and surely, without changing a single brush stroke.”</p> <p> </p> <div><h2 style="padding-top:20px;padding-bottom:30px"><b>Hilma af Klint’s Earliest Examples of Abstract Art</b></h2></div> <figure id="attachment_44618" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-44618" style="margin:0 0 1rem 0" class="figure"><center><img class="figure-img img-fluid" decoding="async" src="https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/af-klint-primordial-chaos-abstract-ar.jpg" alt="af klint primordial chaos abstract ar" width="1200" height="479" srcSet="https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/af-klint-primordial-chaos-abstract-ar.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/af-klint-primordial-chaos-abstract-ar-300x120.jpg 300w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/af-klint-primordial-chaos-abstract-ar-1024x409.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/af-klint-primordial-chaos-abstract-ar-768x307.jpg 768w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/af-klint-primordial-chaos-abstract-ar-150x60.jpg 150w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/af-klint-primordial-chaos-abstract-ar-600x240.jpg 600w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/af-klint-primordial-chaos-abstract-ar-696x278.jpg 696w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/af-klint-primordial-chaos-abstract-ar-1068x426.jpg 1068w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/af-klint-primordial-chaos-abstract-ar-1052x420.jpg 1052w"/></center><figcaption id="caption-attachment-44618" class="figure-caption"><a href="https://www.guggenheim.org/audio/track/group-i-primordial-chaos-1906-07-by-hilma-af-klint" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Installation view of Hilma af Klint’s Group I, Primordial Chaos,</a> 1906-1907, via Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York</figcaption></figure> <p> </p> <p>The paintings of the group <i>Primordial Chaos</i> were the first of Hilma af Klint’s extensive series <i>The</i> <i>Paintings for the Temple</i>. They were also her first examples of abstract art. The group consists of 26 small paintings. They all depict the origins of the world and the Theosophical idea that everything was one at the beginning but was fragmented into <a href="https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/dualism/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">dualistic</a> forces. According to this theory, the purpose of life is to reunite the fragmented and polar forces.</p> <p> </p> <p>The shape of a snail or spiral visible in some of the pictures of this group was used by af Klint to illustrate evolution or development. While the color blue represents the female in af Klint’s work, the color yellow illustrates masculinity. The use of these predominant colors can therefore be interpreted as the depiction of the two opposite forces, such as spirit and matter, or male and female. Hilma af Klint said that the group <i>Primordial Chaos</i> was created under the guidance of one of her spiritual leaders.</p> <p> </p> <h2><b>Group IV: The Ten Largest, 1907</b></h2> <figure id="attachment_44619" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-44619" style="margin:0 0 1rem 0" class="figure"><center><img class="figure-img img-fluid-vertical" decoding="async" src="https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/af-klint-ten-largerst-adulthood-painting.jpg" alt="af klint ten largerst adulthood painting" width="531" height="800" srcSet="https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/af-klint-ten-largerst-adulthood-painting.jpg 796w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/af-klint-ten-largerst-adulthood-painting-199x300.jpg 199w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/af-klint-ten-largerst-adulthood-painting-679x1024.jpg 679w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/af-klint-ten-largerst-adulthood-painting-768x1158.jpg 768w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/af-klint-ten-largerst-adulthood-painting-150x226.jpg 150w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/af-klint-ten-largerst-adulthood-painting-300x452.jpg 300w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/af-klint-ten-largerst-adulthood-painting-600x905.jpg 600w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/af-klint-ten-largerst-adulthood-painting-696x1049.jpg 696w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/af-klint-ten-largerst-adulthood-painting-279x420.jpg 279w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/af-klint-ten-largerst-adulthood-painting-557x840.jpg 557w"/></center><figcaption id="caption-attachment-44619" class="figure-caption"><a href="https://www.guggenheim.org/audio/track/group-iv-the-ten-largest-no-7-adulthood-1907-by-hilma-af-klint" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Group IV, The Ten Largest, No. 7, Adulthood by Hilma af Klint</a>, 1907, via Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York</figcaption></figure> <p> </p> <p>Instead of being guided by the <i>high masters</i>, like when working on her previous group <i>Primordial Chaos</i>, af Klint’s creative process became more independent during the making of <i>The Ten Largest</i>. <a href="https://www.guggenheim.org/teaching-materials/hilma-af-klint-paintings-for-the-future/paintings-for-the-temple#_ednref3" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">She said</a>: “It was not the case that I was to blindly obey the High Lords of the mysteries but that I was to imagine that they were always standing by my side.”</p> <p> </p> <p>Paintings in the group <i>The Ten Largest</i> represent different stages of human life by illustrating childhood, youth, maturity, and old age. They also illustrate how we are connected to the universe. Hilma af Klint displayed different states of human consciousness and development by painting bright geometrical shapes. The artist <a href="https://www.guggenheim.org/audio/track/group-iv-the-ten-largest-no-7-adulthood-1907-by-hilma-af-klint" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">explained</a> the works in her notebook: “Ten paradisiacally beautiful paintings were to be executed; the paintings were to be in colors that would be educational and they would reveal my feelings to me in an economical way…. It was the meaning of the leaders to give the world a glimpse of the system of four parts in the life of man.”</p> <p> </p> <figure id="attachment_44626" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-44626" style="margin:0 0 1rem 0" class="figure"><center><img class="figure-img img-fluid-vertical" decoding="async" src="https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-the-ten-largest-childhood.jpg" alt="hilma af klint the ten largest childhood" width="587" height="800" srcSet="https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-the-ten-largest-childhood.jpg 881w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-the-ten-largest-childhood-220x300.jpg 220w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-the-ten-largest-childhood-752x1024.jpg 752w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-the-ten-largest-childhood-768x1046.jpg 768w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-the-ten-largest-childhood-150x204.jpg 150w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-the-ten-largest-childhood-300x409.jpg 300w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-the-ten-largest-childhood-600x817.jpg 600w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-the-ten-largest-childhood-696x948.jpg 696w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-the-ten-largest-childhood-308x420.jpg 308w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-the-ten-largest-childhood-617x840.jpg 617w"/></center><figcaption id="caption-attachment-44626" class="figure-caption"><a href="https://www.guggenheim.org/blogs/checklist/who-was-hilma-af-klint-at-the-guggenheim-paintings-by-an-artist-ahead-of-her-time" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Group IV, “The Ten Largest”, No. 2, “Childhood” by Hilma af Klint</a>, 1907, via Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York</figcaption></figure> <p> </p> <p>Paintings in the group <i>The Ten Largest</i> show various symbols that are characteristic of af Klint’s art and her involvement with spiritual ideas. The number seven, for example, refers to the artist’s knowledge of Theosophical teachings and is a recurring theme in <i>The Ten Largest</i>. In this series, the symbol of the spiral or snail is a representation of the physical as well as the psychological human development. The almond shape that occurs when two circles intersect, like in the painting <i>No. 2, Childhood</i>, symbolizes a development resulting in completion and unity. The shape is a symbol from <a href="https://www.thecollector.com/worlds-greatest-ancient-cities">ancient</a> times and is also called <i>vesica piscis. </i></p> <p><i> </i></p> <div><h2 style="padding-top:20px;padding-bottom:30px"><b>The Last Artworks of Hilma af Klint’s Temple Series </b></h2></div> <figure id="attachment_44621" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-44621" style="margin:0 0 1rem 0" class="figure"><center><img class="figure-img img-fluid" decoding="async" src="https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-paintings-installation-guggenheim.jpg" alt="hilma af klint paintings installation guggenheim" width="1200" height="726" srcSet="https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-paintings-installation-guggenheim.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-paintings-installation-guggenheim-300x182.jpg 300w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-paintings-installation-guggenheim-1024x620.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-paintings-installation-guggenheim-768x465.jpg 768w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-paintings-installation-guggenheim-150x91.jpg 150w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-paintings-installation-guggenheim-600x363.jpg 600w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-paintings-installation-guggenheim-696x421.jpg 696w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-paintings-installation-guggenheim-1068x646.jpg 1068w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-paintings-installation-guggenheim-694x420.jpg 694w"/></center><figcaption id="caption-attachment-44621" class="figure-caption"><a href="https://www.guggenheim.org/blogs/checklist/who-was-hilma-af-klint-at-the-guggenheim-paintings-by-an-artist-ahead-of-her-time" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Installation view showing the group “Altarpieces” by Hilma af Klint</a>, via Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York</figcaption></figure> <p> </p> <p>The <i>Altarpieces</i> are the last works of Hilma af Klint’s series <i>The Paintings for the Temple</i>. This group consists of three large paintings and was supposed to be placed in the altar room of the temple. Af Klint described the <a href="https://www.guggenheim.org/audio/track/group-x-altarpieces-nos-1-3-1915-by-hilma-af-klint#_edn1" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">architecture of the temple</a> in one of her notebooks as a round building with three stories, a spiral staircase, and a four-story tower with the altar room at the end of the staircase. The artist also wrote that the temple would exude a certain power and calm. Choosing to place this group in such an important room in a temple shows the significance of her <i>Altarpieces</i>.</p> <p> </p> <p>The meaning behind the <i>Altarpieces</i> can be found in the Theosophical theory of spiritual evolution, which is characterized by a movement running in two directions. While the triangle in <i>No. 1</i> of the <i>Altarpieces</i> shows the ascension from the physical world to the spiritual realm, the painting with the triangle pointing downwards illustrates the descending from divinity to the material world. A wide golden circle in the last painting is an esoteric symbol of the universe.</p> <p> </p> <p>Spiritualism and occultism had a significant impact on Hilma af Klint’s abstract art. Her paintings show a very personal representation of her spiritual journey, her beliefs, and the teachings of the various movements that she followed. Since af Klint felt that her art was ahead of its time and could not be fully understood until after her death, she stated in her will that <i>The Paintings for the Temple</i> must not be exhibited until twenty years after her death. Despite the fact that she did not receive acknowledgment for her abstract art during her lifetime, the art world eventually <a href="https://www.thecollector.com/great-female-artists">recognized her vitally important achievements</a>.</p> </article><div class="citeContainer"><button class="citeBox"><span class="citeLabel">Cite this Article</span><img src="/images/double-quotes.png" style="height:25px;width:25px;left:2px;bottom:15px;position:relative" alt="Double Quotes"/></button></div></div><div class="readnext-card"><a class="text-dark" href="/hilma-af-klint-abstract-art/"><h2 class="font-weight-bold">READ NEXT:</h2><p class="font-italic">Who Was Hilma af Klint? 7 Facts About the Pioneer of Abstract Art</p></a></div><div class="sharing bottom"><a class="sharing-btn btn-facebook" target="_blank" href="https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https://www.thecollector.com/how-occultism-spiritualism-inspired-hilma-af-klint-paintings&src=sdkpreparse"><i class="fab fa-facebook"></i><span class="text">Share</span></a><a class="sharing-btn btn-twitter" target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=How Occultism and Spiritualism Inspired Hilma af Klint’s Paintings&url=https://www.thecollector.com/how-occultism-spiritualism-inspired-hilma-af-klint-paintings"><i class="fab fa-twitter"></i><span class="text">Tweet</span></a><a class="sharing-btn btn-linkedIn" target="_blank" href="https://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=https://www.thecollector.com/how-occultism-spiritualism-inspired-hilma-af-klint-paintings&title=How Occultism and Spiritualism Inspired Hilma af Klint’s Paintings&source=thecollector.com&summary=Spiritual ideas and occult movements played an important role in Hilma af Klint’s abstract art. 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style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;bottom:0;right:0;box-sizing:border-box;padding:0;border:none;margin:auto;display:block;width:0;height:0;min-width:100%;max-width:100%;min-height:100%;max-height:100%" class="figure-img img-fluid" src="https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/modern-artists-influenced-by-occult-768x442.jpg"/></noscript></span></a><h5 class="mb-2"><a href="/modern-artists-influenced-by-occult/" class="text-dark">10 Modern Artists Who Were Influenced by the Occult</a></h5></div></div></div></div><div id="article-sidebar-block-2" class="article-sidebar-block"><div class="article-sidebar-sticky-container"></div></div><div id="article-sidebar-block-3" class="article-sidebar-block"><div class="article-sidebar-sticky-container"><h5 class="pt-3"><span>Frequently Read Together</span></h5><div class="FTR"><div class="mb-3 align-items-center c c1"><a href="/hilma-af-klint-work-recurring-symbols/" aria-label="What Are the Recurring Symbols in Hilma af Klint’s 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Discover the stories and legacies of female visionaries, artists, and leaders."}],"preview":false,"post":{"databaseId":44616,"title":"How Occultism and Spiritualism Inspired Hilma af Klint’s Paintings","subtitle":"Spiritual ideas and occult movements played an important role in Hilma af Klint’s abstract art. Her paintings served as a depiction of her spiritual knowledge, research, and experience.","excerpt":"\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp; Spiritual and occult movements were very popular in late 19th and early 20th century Europe and America, especially among artists. New inventions and scientific discoveries such as X-Rays made people question their everyday experience and look for something beyond the limits of ordinary sensory perception. Hilma af Klint was no exception. Her paintings were [\u0026hellip;]\u003c/p\u003e\n","slug":"how-occultism-spiritualism-inspired-hilma-af-klint-paintings","status":"publish","content":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-44617\" src=\"https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Hilma-af-Klint-beautiful-portrait.jpg\" alt=\"Hilma af Klint beautiful portrait\" width=\"1200\" height=\"690\" srcset=\"https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Hilma-af-Klint-beautiful-portrait.jpg 1200w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Hilma-af-Klint-beautiful-portrait-300x173.jpg 300w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Hilma-af-Klint-beautiful-portrait-1024x589.jpg 1024w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Hilma-af-Klint-beautiful-portrait-768x442.jpg 768w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Hilma-af-Klint-beautiful-portrait-150x86.jpg 150w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Hilma-af-Klint-beautiful-portrait-600x345.jpg 600w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Hilma-af-Klint-beautiful-portrait-696x400.jpg 696w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Hilma-af-Klint-beautiful-portrait-1068x614.jpg 1068w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Hilma-af-Klint-beautiful-portrait-730x420.jpg 730w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" /\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSpiritual and occult movements were very popular in late 19th and early 20th century Europe and America, especially among artists. New inventions and scientific discoveries such as X-Rays made people question their everyday experience and look for something beyond the limits of ordinary sensory perception. Hilma af Klint was no exception. Her paintings were heavily influenced by spiritualism. Af Klint’s work is not only one of the first examples of abstract art, but also an illustration of various occult ideas, spiritual movements, and her own experiences during séances.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003e\u003cb\u003eHilma af Klint’s Spiritual Influences\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_44624\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-44624\" style=\"width: 555px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"\u003e\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-44624\" src=\"https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-swedish-painter-photo.jpg\" alt=\"hilma af klint swedish painter photo\" width=\"555\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-swedish-painter-photo.jpg 833w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-swedish-painter-photo-208x300.jpg 208w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-swedish-painter-photo-711x1024.jpg 711w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-swedish-painter-photo-768x1106.jpg 768w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-swedish-painter-photo-150x216.jpg 150w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-swedish-painter-photo-300x432.jpg 300w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-swedish-painter-photo-600x864.jpg 600w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-swedish-painter-photo-696x1003.jpg 696w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-swedish-painter-photo-292x420.jpg 292w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-swedish-painter-photo-583x840.jpg 583w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 555px) 100vw, 555px\" /\u003e\u003cfigcaption id=\"caption-attachment-44624\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://www.guggenheim.org/blogs/checklist/who-was-hilma-af-klint-at-the-guggenheim-paintings-by-an-artist-ahead-of-her-time\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"\u003ePhoto of Hilma af Klint\u003c/a\u003e, ca. 1895, via Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York\u003c/figcaption\u003e\u003c/figure\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://www.thecollector.com/hilma-af-klint-abstract-art/\"\u003eHilma af Klint\u003c/a\u003e was born in Stockholm in 1862. She died in 1944. When she was only 17 years old, she participated in her first séances during which people attempted to communicate with the spirits of the dead. After her younger sister Hermina died in 1880, af Klint became even more involved with spiritualism and tried to contact her sibling’s spirit. The artist joined \u003ca href=\"https://www.thecollector.com/modern-artists-influenced-by-occult/\"\u003eseveral spiritual and occult movements during her\u003c/a\u003e lifetime and studied some of their teachings intensely. \u003ca href=\"https://www.thecollector.com/hilma-af-klint-work-recurring-symbols/\"\u003eHer art\u003c/a\u003e was greatly influenced by her connection to the Theosophical movement and she also drew inspiration from Rosicrucianism and Anthroposophy.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003e\u003cb\u003eTheosophy \u003c/b\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_44623\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-44623\" style=\"width: 607px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"\u003e\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-44623\" src=\"https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-photo-1901.jpg\" alt=\"hilma af klint photo 1901\" width=\"607\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-photo-1901.jpg 911w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-photo-1901-228x300.jpg 228w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-photo-1901-777x1024.jpg 777w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-photo-1901-768x1012.jpg 768w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-photo-1901-150x198.jpg 150w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-photo-1901-300x395.jpg 300w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-photo-1901-600x790.jpg 600w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-photo-1901-696x917.jpg 696w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-photo-1901-319x420.jpg 319w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-photo-1901-638x840.jpg 638w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 607px) 100vw, 607px\" /\u003e\u003cfigcaption id=\"caption-attachment-44623\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://www.modernamuseet.se/stockholm/en/exhibitions/hilma-af-klint-2013/biography/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"\u003ePhoto of Hilma af Klint\u003c/a\u003e, via Moderna Museet, Stockholm\u003c/figcaption\u003e\u003c/figure\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Theosophical movement was founded by Helena Blavatsky and Colonel H.S. Olcott in 1875. The word “theosophy” comes from the \u003ca href=\"https://www.thecollector.com/greek-mythology-5-essential-fables-ancient-greece\"\u003eGreek\u003c/a\u003e terms \u003ci\u003etheos\u003c/i\u003e – which means god – and \u003ci\u003esophia\u003c/i\u003e – which means wisdom. It can therefore be translated as \u003ci\u003edivine wisdom\u003c/i\u003e. Theosophy supports the idea that there is a \u003ca href=\"https://www.thecollector.com/what-is-renaissance-philosophy-mysticism/\"\u003emystical truth\u003c/a\u003e beyond human consciousness that can be accessed through a transcending state of the mind, such as meditation. Theosophists believe that the whole universe is one single entity. Their teachings also represent the thought that humans have seven stages of consciousness and that the spirit gets reincarnated. \u003ca href=\"https://www.guggenheim.org/blogs/checklist/inspiration-and-influence-the-spiritual-journey-of-artist-hilma-af-klint\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"\u003eHilma af Klint depicted all these ideas\u003c/a\u003e in her abstract art.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003e\u003cb\u003eRosicrucianism\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_44625\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-44625\" style=\"width: 1546px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"\u003e\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-44625\" src=\"https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-the-ten-largest-abstract-art.jpg\" alt=\"hilma af klint the ten largest abstract art\" width=\"1546\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-the-ten-largest-abstract-art.jpg 1200w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-the-ten-largest-abstract-art-300x155.jpg 300w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-the-ten-largest-abstract-art-1024x530.jpg 1024w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-the-ten-largest-abstract-art-768x397.jpg 768w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-the-ten-largest-abstract-art-150x78.jpg 150w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-the-ten-largest-abstract-art-600x311.jpg 600w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-the-ten-largest-abstract-art-696x360.jpg 696w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-the-ten-largest-abstract-art-1068x553.jpg 1068w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-the-ten-largest-abstract-art-812x420.jpg 812w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1546px) 100vw, 1546px\" /\u003e\u003cfigcaption id=\"caption-attachment-44625\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://www.guggenheim.org/blogs/checklist/who-was-hilma-af-klint-at-the-guggenheim-paintings-by-an-artist-ahead-of-her-time\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"\u003eInstallation view of Hilma af Klint’s group The Ten Largest\u003c/a\u003e, via Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York\u003c/figcaption\u003e\u003c/figure\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eRosicrucianism has its roots in the 17th century. It was named after its symbol, which depicts a rose on a cross. Members of the movement believe that ancient wisdom was passed on to them and that this knowledge is only available to Rosicrucians and not to the general public. The esoteric movement combines aspects of \u003ca href=\"https://blogs.uoregon.edu/rel399f14drreis/hermeticism/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"\u003eHermeticism\u003c/a\u003e, alchemy, and Jewish as well as \u003ca href=\"https://www.thecollector.com/early-religious-art-monotheism-judaism-christianity-islam\"\u003eChristian\u003c/a\u003e mysticism. The influence of Rosicrucianism on \u003ca href=\"https://www.thecollector.com/was-wassily-kandinsky-influenced-by-hilma-af-klint/\"\u003eHilma af Klint’s\u003c/a\u003e work is documented in her notebooks. She also used symbols of the Rosicrucian movement in her \u003ca href=\"https://www.thecollector.com/abstract-art-vs-abstract-expressionism\"\u003eabstract art\u003c/a\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003e\u003cb\u003eAnthroposophy\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_44622\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-44622\" style=\"width: 1200px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"\u003e\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-44622\" src=\"https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-photo.jpg\" alt=\"hilma af klint photo\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" srcset=\"https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-photo.jpg 1200w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-photo-300x169.jpg 300w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-photo-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-photo-768x432.jpg 768w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-photo-150x84.jpg 150w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-photo-600x338.jpg 600w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-photo-696x392.jpg 696w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-photo-1068x601.jpg 1068w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-photo-747x420.jpg 747w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" /\u003e\u003cfigcaption id=\"caption-attachment-44622\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://www.guggenheim.org/blogs/checklist/inspiration-and-influence-the-spiritual-journey-of-artist-hilma-af-klint\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"\u003ePhoto of Hilma af Klint\u003c/a\u003e, 1910s, via Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York\u003c/figcaption\u003e\u003c/figure\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Anthroposophical movement was founded at the beginning of the 20th century by the Austrian philosopher \u003ca href=\"https://www.design-museum.de/en/exhibitions/detailpages/rudolf-steiner.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"\u003eRudolf Steiner\u003c/a\u003e. The movement’s teachings postulate that the human mind can communicate with an objective spiritual realm through the intellect. According to Steiner, to perceive this spiritual world the mind must achieve a state free from any sensory experience.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDespite the fact that Rudolf Steiner did not appreciate Hilma af Klint’s paintings and spiritual work, the artist joined the Anthroposophical Society in 1920. She studied Anthroposophy for a long time. \u003ca href=\"https://www.brainpickings.org/2012/08/17/goethe-theory-of-colours/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"\u003eGoethe’s Color Theory\u003c/a\u003e, which was endorsed by the Anthroposophical movement, became a lifelong theme in her work. Hilma af Klint left the movement in 1930 since she did not find enough information about the meaning of her abstract art in the teachings of Anthroposophy.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003e\u003cb\u003eHilma af Klint and \u003c/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Five\u003c/i\u003e\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_44627\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-44627\" style=\"width: 1077px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"\u003e\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-44627\" src=\"https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/seance-room-hilma-af-klint.jpg\" alt=\"séance room hilma af klint\" width=\"1077\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/seance-room-hilma-af-klint.jpg 1200w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/seance-room-hilma-af-klint-300x223.jpg 300w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/seance-room-hilma-af-klint-1024x760.jpg 1024w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/seance-room-hilma-af-klint-768x570.jpg 768w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/seance-room-hilma-af-klint-150x111.jpg 150w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/seance-room-hilma-af-klint-600x446.jpg 600w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/seance-room-hilma-af-klint-485x360.jpg 485w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/seance-room-hilma-af-klint-970x720.jpg 970w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/seance-room-hilma-af-klint-696x517.jpg 696w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/seance-room-hilma-af-klint-1068x793.jpg 1068w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/seance-room-hilma-af-klint-566x420.jpg 566w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/seance-room-hilma-af-klint-1131x840.jpg 1131w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/seance-room-hilma-af-klint-80x60.jpg 80w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/seance-room-hilma-af-klint-160x120.jpg 160w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/seance-room-hilma-af-klint-265x198.jpg 265w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1077px) 100vw, 1077px\" /\u003e\u003cfigcaption id=\"caption-attachment-44627\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://www.guggenheim.org/blogs/checklist/inspiration-and-influence-the-spiritual-journey-of-artist-hilma-af-klint\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"\u003ePhoto of the room where the séances of “The Five” took place\u003c/a\u003e, c. 1890, via Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York\u003c/figcaption\u003e\u003c/figure\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHilma af Klint and four other women founded a spiritual group called \u003ci\u003eThe Five\u003c/i\u003e in 1896. The women met regularly for sessions during which they would communicate with the spirit world through séances. They performed their sessions in a dedicated room with an altar exhibiting the Rosicrucian symbol of a rose in the middle of a cross.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDuring the séances, the women allegedly made contact with spirits and spiritual leaders. They called the leaders\u003ci\u003e high masters.\u003c/i\u003e Members of \u003ci\u003eThe Five\u003c/i\u003e documented their sessions in several notebooks. These séances and conversations with the high masters eventually led to the creation of af Klint’s abstract art.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe Paintings for the Temple\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_44620\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-44620\" style=\"width: 605px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"\u003e\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-44620\" src=\"https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-altarpieces-paintings-temple.jpg\" alt=\"hilma af klint altarpieces paintings temple\" width=\"605\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-altarpieces-paintings-temple.jpg 907w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-altarpieces-paintings-temple-227x300.jpg 227w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-altarpieces-paintings-temple-774x1024.jpg 774w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-altarpieces-paintings-temple-768x1016.jpg 768w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-altarpieces-paintings-temple-150x198.jpg 150w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-altarpieces-paintings-temple-300x397.jpg 300w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-altarpieces-paintings-temple-600x794.jpg 600w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-altarpieces-paintings-temple-696x921.jpg 696w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-altarpieces-paintings-temple-317x420.jpg 317w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-altarpieces-paintings-temple-635x840.jpg 635w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 605px) 100vw, 605px\" /\u003e\u003cfigcaption id=\"caption-attachment-44620\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://www.guggenheim.org/audio/track/group-x-altarpieces-nos-1-3-1915-by-hilma-af-klint\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"\u003eHilma af Klint, Group X, No. 1, Altarpiece\u003c/a\u003e, 1915, via Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York\u003c/figcaption\u003e\u003c/figure\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDuring a séance in the year 1906, a spirit called Amaliel allegedly commissioned Hilma af Klint to make paintings for the temple. The artist documented the assignment in her notebook and wrote that it was the largest work she was to perform in her life. This series of artworks, called \u003ci\u003eThe Paintings for the Temple\u003c/i\u003e, was created between 1906 and 1915. It features 193 paintings that are divided into various subgroups. The general idea of \u003ci\u003eThe Paintings for the Temple\u003c/i\u003e was to depict the \u003ca href=\"https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/monism/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"\u003emonistic\u003c/a\u003e nature of the world. The works should represent that everything in the world is one.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe spiritual quality of the series is also apparent in Hilma af Klint’s description of its making: “The pictures were painted directly through me, without any preliminary drawings, and with great force. I had no idea what the paintings were supposed to depict; nevertheless I worked swiftly and surely, without changing a single brush stroke.\u0026#8221;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003e\u003cb\u003eHilma af Klint’s Earliest Examples of Abstract Art\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_44618\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-44618\" style=\"width: 1200px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"\u003e\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-44618\" src=\"https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/af-klint-primordial-chaos-abstract-ar.jpg\" alt=\"af klint primordial chaos abstract ar\" width=\"1200\" height=\"479\" srcset=\"https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/af-klint-primordial-chaos-abstract-ar.jpg 1200w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/af-klint-primordial-chaos-abstract-ar-300x120.jpg 300w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/af-klint-primordial-chaos-abstract-ar-1024x409.jpg 1024w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/af-klint-primordial-chaos-abstract-ar-768x307.jpg 768w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/af-klint-primordial-chaos-abstract-ar-150x60.jpg 150w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/af-klint-primordial-chaos-abstract-ar-600x240.jpg 600w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/af-klint-primordial-chaos-abstract-ar-696x278.jpg 696w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/af-klint-primordial-chaos-abstract-ar-1068x426.jpg 1068w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/af-klint-primordial-chaos-abstract-ar-1052x420.jpg 1052w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" /\u003e\u003cfigcaption id=\"caption-attachment-44618\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://www.guggenheim.org/audio/track/group-i-primordial-chaos-1906-07-by-hilma-af-klint\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"\u003eInstallation view of Hilma af Klint’s Group I, Primordial Chaos,\u003c/a\u003e 1906-1907, via Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York\u003c/figcaption\u003e\u003c/figure\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe paintings of the group \u003ci\u003ePrimordial Chaos\u003c/i\u003e were the first of Hilma af Klint’s extensive series \u003ci\u003eThe\u003c/i\u003e \u003ci\u003ePaintings for the Temple\u003c/i\u003e. They were also her first examples of abstract art. The group consists of 26 small paintings. They all depict the origins of the world and the Theosophical idea that everything was one at the beginning but was fragmented into \u003ca href=\"https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/dualism/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"\u003edualistic\u003c/a\u003e forces. According to this theory, the purpose of life is to reunite the fragmented and polar forces.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe shape of a snail or spiral visible in some of the pictures of this group was used by af Klint to illustrate evolution or development. While the color blue represents the female in af Klint’s work, the color yellow illustrates masculinity. The use of these predominant colors can therefore be interpreted as the depiction of the two opposite forces, such as spirit and matter, or male and female. Hilma af Klint said that the group \u003ci\u003ePrimordial Chaos\u003c/i\u003e was created under the guidance of one of her spiritual leaders.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003e\u003cb\u003eGroup IV: The Ten Largest, 1907\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_44619\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-44619\" style=\"width: 531px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"\u003e\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-44619\" src=\"https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/af-klint-ten-largerst-adulthood-painting.jpg\" alt=\"af klint ten largerst adulthood painting\" width=\"531\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/af-klint-ten-largerst-adulthood-painting.jpg 796w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/af-klint-ten-largerst-adulthood-painting-199x300.jpg 199w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/af-klint-ten-largerst-adulthood-painting-679x1024.jpg 679w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/af-klint-ten-largerst-adulthood-painting-768x1158.jpg 768w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/af-klint-ten-largerst-adulthood-painting-150x226.jpg 150w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/af-klint-ten-largerst-adulthood-painting-300x452.jpg 300w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/af-klint-ten-largerst-adulthood-painting-600x905.jpg 600w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/af-klint-ten-largerst-adulthood-painting-696x1049.jpg 696w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/af-klint-ten-largerst-adulthood-painting-279x420.jpg 279w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/af-klint-ten-largerst-adulthood-painting-557x840.jpg 557w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 531px) 100vw, 531px\" /\u003e\u003cfigcaption id=\"caption-attachment-44619\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://www.guggenheim.org/audio/track/group-iv-the-ten-largest-no-7-adulthood-1907-by-hilma-af-klint\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"\u003eGroup IV, The Ten Largest, No. 7, Adulthood by Hilma af Klint\u003c/a\u003e, 1907, via Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York\u003c/figcaption\u003e\u003c/figure\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eInstead of being guided by the \u003ci\u003ehigh masters\u003c/i\u003e, like when working on her previous group \u003ci\u003ePrimordial Chaos\u003c/i\u003e, af Klint’s creative process became more independent during the making of \u003ci\u003eThe Ten Largest\u003c/i\u003e. \u003ca href=\"https://www.guggenheim.org/teaching-materials/hilma-af-klint-paintings-for-the-future/paintings-for-the-temple#_ednref3\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"\u003eShe said\u003c/a\u003e: “It was not the case that I was to blindly obey the High Lords of the mysteries but that I was to imagine that they were always standing by my side.”\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePaintings in the group \u003ci\u003eThe Ten Largest\u003c/i\u003e represent different stages of human life by illustrating childhood, youth, maturity, and old age. They also illustrate how we are connected to the universe. Hilma af Klint displayed different states of human consciousness and development by painting bright geometrical shapes. The artist \u003ca href=\"https://www.guggenheim.org/audio/track/group-iv-the-ten-largest-no-7-adulthood-1907-by-hilma-af-klint\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"\u003eexplained\u003c/a\u003e the works in her notebook: “Ten paradisiacally beautiful paintings were to be executed; the paintings were to be in colors that would be educational and they would reveal my feelings to me in an economical way…. It was the meaning of the leaders to give the world a glimpse of the system of four parts in the life of man.”\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_44626\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-44626\" style=\"width: 587px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"\u003e\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-44626\" src=\"https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-the-ten-largest-childhood.jpg\" alt=\"hilma af klint the ten largest childhood\" width=\"587\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-the-ten-largest-childhood.jpg 881w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-the-ten-largest-childhood-220x300.jpg 220w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-the-ten-largest-childhood-752x1024.jpg 752w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-the-ten-largest-childhood-768x1046.jpg 768w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-the-ten-largest-childhood-150x204.jpg 150w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-the-ten-largest-childhood-300x409.jpg 300w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-the-ten-largest-childhood-600x817.jpg 600w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-the-ten-largest-childhood-696x948.jpg 696w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-the-ten-largest-childhood-308x420.jpg 308w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-the-ten-largest-childhood-617x840.jpg 617w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 587px) 100vw, 587px\" /\u003e\u003cfigcaption id=\"caption-attachment-44626\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://www.guggenheim.org/blogs/checklist/who-was-hilma-af-klint-at-the-guggenheim-paintings-by-an-artist-ahead-of-her-time\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"\u003eGroup IV, “The Ten Largest”, No. 2, “Childhood” by Hilma af Klint\u003c/a\u003e, 1907, via Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York\u003c/figcaption\u003e\u003c/figure\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePaintings in the group \u003ci\u003eThe Ten Largest\u003c/i\u003e show various symbols that are characteristic of af Klint’s art and her involvement with spiritual ideas. The number seven, for example, refers to the artist’s knowledge of Theosophical teachings and is a recurring theme in \u003ci\u003eThe Ten Largest\u003c/i\u003e. In this series, the symbol of the spiral or snail is a representation of the physical as well as the psychological human development. The almond shape that occurs when two circles intersect, like in the painting \u003ci\u003eNo. 2, Childhood\u003c/i\u003e, symbolizes a development resulting in completion and unity. The shape is a symbol from \u003ca href=\"https://www.thecollector.com/worlds-greatest-ancient-cities\"\u003eancient\u003c/a\u003e times and is also called \u003ci\u003evesica piscis. \u003c/i\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003e \u003c/i\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe Last Artworks of Hilma af Klint’s Temple Series \u003c/b\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_44621\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-44621\" style=\"width: 1200px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"\u003e\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-44621\" src=\"https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-paintings-installation-guggenheim.jpg\" alt=\"hilma af klint paintings installation guggenheim\" width=\"1200\" height=\"726\" srcset=\"https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-paintings-installation-guggenheim.jpg 1200w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-paintings-installation-guggenheim-300x182.jpg 300w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-paintings-installation-guggenheim-1024x620.jpg 1024w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-paintings-installation-guggenheim-768x465.jpg 768w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-paintings-installation-guggenheim-150x91.jpg 150w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-paintings-installation-guggenheim-600x363.jpg 600w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-paintings-installation-guggenheim-696x421.jpg 696w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-paintings-installation-guggenheim-1068x646.jpg 1068w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/hilma-af-klint-paintings-installation-guggenheim-694x420.jpg 694w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" /\u003e\u003cfigcaption id=\"caption-attachment-44621\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://www.guggenheim.org/blogs/checklist/who-was-hilma-af-klint-at-the-guggenheim-paintings-by-an-artist-ahead-of-her-time\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"\u003eInstallation view showing the group “Altarpieces” by Hilma af Klint\u003c/a\u003e, via Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York\u003c/figcaption\u003e\u003c/figure\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe \u003ci\u003eAltarpieces\u003c/i\u003e are the last works of Hilma af Klint’s series \u003ci\u003eThe Paintings for the Temple\u003c/i\u003e. This group consists of three large paintings and was supposed to be placed in the altar room of the temple. Af Klint described the \u003ca href=\"https://www.guggenheim.org/audio/track/group-x-altarpieces-nos-1-3-1915-by-hilma-af-klint#_edn1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"\u003earchitecture of the temple\u003c/a\u003e in one of her notebooks as a round building with three stories, a spiral staircase, and a four-story tower with the altar room at the end of the staircase. The artist also wrote that the temple would exude a certain power and calm. Choosing to place this group in such an important room in a temple shows the significance of her \u003ci\u003eAltarpieces\u003c/i\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe meaning behind the \u003ci\u003eAltarpieces\u003c/i\u003e can be found in the Theosophical theory of spiritual evolution, which is characterized by a movement running in two directions. While the triangle in \u003ci\u003eNo. 1\u003c/i\u003e of the \u003ci\u003eAltarpieces\u003c/i\u003e shows the ascension from the physical world to the spiritual realm, the painting with the triangle pointing downwards illustrates the descending from divinity to the material world. A wide golden circle in the last painting is an esoteric symbol of the universe.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSpiritualism and occultism had a significant impact on Hilma af Klint’s abstract art. Her paintings show a very personal representation of her spiritual journey, her beliefs, and the teachings of the various movements that she followed. Since af Klint felt that her art was ahead of its time and could not be fully understood until after her death, she stated in her will that \u003ci\u003eThe Paintings for the Temple\u003c/i\u003e must not be exhibited until twenty years after her death. Despite the fact that she did not receive acknowledgment for her abstract art during her lifetime, the art world eventually \u003ca href=\"https://www.thecollector.com/great-female-artists\"\u003erecognized her vitally important achievements\u003c/a\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\n","date":"2021-09-19T06:12:07","modified":"2024-01-11T00:01:30","featuredImage":{"node":{"sourceUrl":"https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Hilma-af-Klint-beautiful-portrait.jpg","caption":"\u003cp\u003eHilma af Klint beautiful portrait\u003c/p\u003e\n","altText":"Hilma af Klint beautiful portrait"}},"includeUpdated":{"articleUpdated":null,"includeVideoIcon":null,"includeTableContent":null},"author":{"node":{"name":"Stefanie Graf","userId":135,"firstName":"Stefanie","lastName":"Graf","nicename":null,"slug":"stefanie-graf","description":"Stefanie is completing her bachelor’s degree in art history at the University of Vienna, Austria. She will commence her master’s degree next semester. She has a passion for modern and contemporary art, architecture, and art theory. Interested in researching and reading about the impact art has on the viewer and on society, Stefanie believes that art can change, question and shape the way we think and live.","designation":"MA in progress, BA in Art History","avatar":{"url":"https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Stephanie-graf-author-1.jpg"}}},"categories":{"edges":[{"isPrimary":true,"node":{"name":"Artists","slug":"artists"}}]},"tags":{"edges":[{"node":{"name":"abstract art"}},{"node":{"name":"Abstraction"}},{"node":{"name":"Anthroposophy"}},{"node":{"name":"art history"}},{"node":{"name":"color theory"}},{"node":{"name":"Hilma af Klint"}},{"node":{"name":"modern art"}},{"node":{"name":"mysticism."}},{"node":{"name":"occultism"}},{"node":{"name":"Paintings"}}]}},"internalSlugArray":[{"id":"cG9zdDozMDE2OA==","title":"Who Was Hilma af Klint? 7 Facts About the Pioneer of Abstract Art","subtitle":"Hilma af Klint was a Swedish pioneer of abstract art and a painter of the future who gained posthumous notoriety.","content":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-117771\" src=\"https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/who-was-hilma-af-klint.jpg\" alt=\"Who Was Hilma af Klint\" width=\"1200\" height=\"690\" srcset=\"https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/who-was-hilma-af-klint.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/who-was-hilma-af-klint-300x173.jpg 300w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/who-was-hilma-af-klint-1024x589.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/who-was-hilma-af-klint-768x442.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" /\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThough the Swedish painter Hilma af Klint was unknown to a large part of the world during her lifetime, today she is regarded with artists such as \u003ca href=\"https://www.thecollector.com/wassily-kandinsky-the-father-of-abstraction/\"\u003eWassily Kandinsky\u003c/a\u003e, \u003ca href=\"https://www.thecollector.com/who-was-piet-mondrian/\"\u003ePiet Mondrian\u003c/a\u003e, and \u003ca href=\"https://www.thecollector.com/kazimir-malevich-understanding-suprematism-art/\"\u003eKazimir Malevich\u003c/a\u003e. Hilma af Klint was born in 1862 in Solna, Sweden, and created a total of around 1000 paintings, sketches, and watercolors up to her death in 1944. It was only recently that the Swedish artist, a daughter from a noble house, began to receive more attention for her artistic work. Below are seven interesting facts about this exceptional artist of her time.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003e\u003cb\u003e1. Hilma af Klint Was the Earliest Painter of Abstract Art\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_30110\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-30110\" style=\"width: 755px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"\u003e\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-30110 size-full\" src=\"https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/hilma-af-klint-cress-1890s-painting-e1598467095361.jpg\" alt=\"Cress by Hilma af Klint\" width=\"755\" height=\"800\" /\u003e\u003cfigcaption id=\"caption-attachment-30110\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"\u003eCress by Hilma af Klint, 1890s. Source: 4Columns Magazine\u003c/figcaption\u003e\u003c/figure\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFor a long time, it was believed that \u003ca href=\"https://www.thecollector.com/was-wassily-kandinsky-influenced-by-hilma-af-klint/\"\u003eWassily Kandinsky\u003c/a\u003e introduced abstraction into painting in 1911. However, we now know that \u003ca href=\"https://www.thecollector.com/what-to-know-about-hilma-af-klint/\"\u003eHilma af Klint\u003c/a\u003e was already producing abstract paintings in 1906. She is thus the earliest representative of \u003ca href=\"https://www.thecollector.com/famous-abstract-artists/\"\u003eabstract art\u003c/a\u003e and was considered a good observer. Her very early naturalistic subjects, flower pictures, and portraits corresponded to the expectations of a woman from a good family at the turn of the century, especially a daughter of the nobility. While \u003ca href=\"https://www.thecollector.com/hilma-af-klint-work-recurring-symbols/\"\u003eHilma af Klint\u003c/a\u003e painted naturalistic scenes in the early days of her painting and filled her canvases and drawing sheets with flower motifs and portraits, she broke with \u003ca href=\"https://www.thecollector.com/naturalism-realism-and-impressionism-explained/\"\u003enaturalistic painting\u003c/a\u003e at the age of 44 and turned to abstract art.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003e\u003cb\u003e2. One of the First Women Ever To Study at an Art University\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_30116\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-30116\" style=\"width: 800px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"\u003e\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-30116\" src=\"https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/hilma-klint-paintings-for-the-future-exhibition.jpg\" alt=\"hilma af klint paintings for the future\" width=\"800\" height=\"447\" srcset=\"https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/hilma-klint-paintings-for-the-future-exhibition.jpg 1200w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/hilma-klint-paintings-for-the-future-exhibition-300x168.jpg 300w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/hilma-klint-paintings-for-the-future-exhibition-1024x572.jpg 1024w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/hilma-klint-paintings-for-the-future-exhibition-768x429.jpg 768w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/hilma-klint-paintings-for-the-future-exhibition-150x84.jpg 150w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/hilma-klint-paintings-for-the-future-exhibition-600x335.jpg 600w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/hilma-klint-paintings-for-the-future-exhibition-696x389.jpg 696w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/hilma-klint-paintings-for-the-future-exhibition-1068x596.jpg 1068w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/hilma-klint-paintings-for-the-future-exhibition-752x420.jpg 752w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" /\u003e\u003cfigcaption id=\"caption-attachment-30116\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://www.guggenheim.org/blogs/checklist/who-was-hilma-af-klint-at-the-guggenheim-paintings-by-an-artist-ahead-of-her-time\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\"\u003e\u003ci\u003eHilma af Klint: Paintings for the Future \u003c/i\u003eexhibition\u003c/a\u003e, 2019. Source: Guggenheim Museum, New York\u003c/figcaption\u003e\u003c/figure\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBefore Hilma af Klint started creating her large-format paintings, the Swedish artist studied painting at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Stockholm. This was possible for her because Sweden was one of the first countries in Europe to offer women the opportunity to study at a university. After her studies, she moved to a studio in Stockholm, where she spent the first years of her artistic career.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003e\u003cb\u003e3. She Knew She Was Ahead of Her Time\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_30112\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-30112\" style=\"width: 609px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"\u003e\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-30112 size-full\" src=\"https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/hilma-af-klint-group-IX-the-dove-painting-e1598467187989.jpg\" alt=\"hilma af klint group ixuw\" width=\"609\" height=\"800\" /\u003e\u003cfigcaption id=\"caption-attachment-30112\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://www.modernamuseet.se/malmo/en/exhibitions/hilma-af-klint/in-depth/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\"\u003e\u003ci\u003eGroup IX/UW, No. 25, The Dove, No. 1 \u003c/i\u003eby Hilma af Klint\u003c/a\u003e, 1915, via Moderna Museet, Stockholm\u003c/figcaption\u003e\u003c/figure\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://www.thecollector.com/scientific-roots-hilma-af-klint-work/\"\u003eHilma af Klint\u003c/a\u003e is often called the painter of the future. This attribution was also one she realized about herself. In her will, the painter arranged that her works of art should not be exhibited to a large audience until twenty years after her death. The artist was convinced that her contemporaries would not be able to grasp the full meaning of her paintings.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_117577\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-117577\" style=\"width: 570px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"\u003e\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-117577\" src=\"https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/hilma-af-klint-portrait-1.jpg\" alt=\"Portrait of Hilma af Klint\" width=\"570\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/hilma-af-klint-portrait-1.jpg 855w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/hilma-af-klint-portrait-1-214x300.jpg 214w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/hilma-af-klint-portrait-1-730x1024.jpg 730w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/hilma-af-klint-portrait-1-768x1078.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 570px) 100vw, 570px\" /\u003e\u003cfigcaption id=\"caption-attachment-117577\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"\u003e\u003cem\u003ePortrait of Hilma af Klint\u003c/em\u003e, c. 1900. Source: The Guggenheim\u003c/figcaption\u003e\u003c/figure\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn an article for \u003ca href=\"https://www.ad-magazin.de/article/hilma-af-klint\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\"\u003eAD magazine\u003c/a\u003e, art critic and Hilma af Klint biographer Julia Voss explains that the artist marked many of her works with the character combination \u0026#8220;+x\u0026#8221;. According to a description of the abbreviation by the artist, the works with this symbol were \u0026#8220;all works that are to be opened 20 years after my death\u0026#8221;. It was not until the mid-1980s that the works of the Swedish artist were first exhibited and appreciated in their entirety. A legend that exists about Hilma af Klint might agree with her opinion about her contemporaries: When her works had been first offered to the \u003ca href=\"https://www.modernamuseet.se/stockholm/en/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\"\u003eModern Museet in Stockholm\u003c/a\u003e in 1970, the donation was initially rejected. It took another ten years or so until an understanding of the art historical value of Hilma af Klint\u0026#8217;s paintings was fully established.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003e\u003cb\u003e4. Klint Was Part of a Spiritual Women\u0026#8217;s Group Called \u0026#8220;De Fem\u0026#8221; [The Five]\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_30111\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-30111\" style=\"width: 800px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"\u003e\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-30111\" src=\"https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/hilma-af-klint-group-2-14-21-painting-e1598467234878.jpg\" alt=\"hilma af klint group painting\" width=\"800\" height=\"576\" /\u003e\u003cfigcaption id=\"caption-attachment-30111\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"\u003eGroup 2, no title, No. 14a – No. 21 by Hilma af Klint, 1919. Source: Moderna Museet, Stockholm\u003c/figcaption\u003e\u003c/figure\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHilma af Klint had a strong interest in Theosophy and Anthroposophy. In the late 1870s, she began to participate in séances and make contact with the dead. In 1896, she and four other women finally founded the group \u003ca href=\"https://www.guggenheim.org/audio/track/spiritual-drawings-of-the-five-ca-1903-04\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\"\u003e\u0026#8220;De Fem\u0026#8221; [The Five]\u003c/a\u003e to get in contact with \u0026#8220;high masters\u0026#8221; in another dimension through the back of glasses. Participating in these practices also slowly changed her work. During that time, she turned to \u003ca href=\"https://www.thecollector.com/surrealism-art-movement/\"\u003eautomatic drawing\u003c/a\u003e. Later, she made it her task to depict in her paintings the mystery of the unity of the universe, theorizing that while in reality, it is visible in duality.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAccording to researchers, Hilma af Klint\u0026#8217;s interest in the supernatural stemmed both from the early death of her sister, whose spirit she tried to stay in contact with, and from a general interest typical of the late 19th century. An interest in the supernatural was considered a phenomenon of her time – a period in which there were many inventions in the field of the invisible: the telephone, radio waves, electromagnetic waves, and ultrasound.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_30114\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-30114\" style=\"width: 800px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"\u003e\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-30114\" src=\"https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/hilma-af-klint-painting-parsifal-series-e1598467272371.jpg\" alt=\"no 113 group iii the parsifal series\" width=\"800\" height=\"690\" /\u003e\u003cfigcaption id=\"caption-attachment-30114\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://www.modernamuseet.se/stockholm/en/exhibitions/hilma-af-klint-2013/topics/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\"\u003e\u003ci\u003eNo. 113, Group III, The Parsifal Series\u003c/i\u003e by Hilma af Klint\u003c/a\u003e, 1916. Source: Moderna Museet, Stockholm\u003c/figcaption\u003e\u003c/figure\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn the years 1917 and 1918 Hilma af Klint began a very intensive examination of the supernatural. This can be seen today in her \u003cem\u003eStudies on Spiritual Life\u003c/em\u003e, which include the \u003cem\u003eParsifal Series\u003c/em\u003e. This series contains elements that can also be found in other works of the artist: concentric circles, geometric forms, and bright colors.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003e\u003cb\u003e5. She Designed a Temple for Her Works\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_30113\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-30113\" style=\"width: 605px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"\u003e\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-30113\" src=\"https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/hilma-af-klint-group-x-altarpiece-painting-e1598467305390.jpg\" alt=\"group x altarpiece painting\" width=\"605\" height=\"800\" /\u003e\u003cfigcaption id=\"caption-attachment-30113\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://www.guggenheim.org/audio/track/group-x-altarpieces-nos-1-3-1915-by-hilma-af-klint\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\"\u003e\u003ci\u003eGroup X, No. 1 Altarpiece\u003c/i\u003e Hilma af Klint\u003c/a\u003e, 1915. Source: Guggenheim Museum, New York\u003c/figcaption\u003e\u003c/figure\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe artist Hilma af Klint had the idea that her works should be withheld from the public until 20 years after her death, and the Swedish artist also imagined the presentation of her works in a very special way. Hilma af Klint designed a temple for her paintings, in which she decided the visitors should walk through in a spiral. From picture to picture, from series to series, they were to stride right up to the top of the temple to the dome, which was to provide a view of the stars.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe artist was very impressed by the teachings of the theosophist and anthroposophist Rudolf Steiner, and she could have been influenced by him and his emptiness in her idea of such a temple, as well as from her visits to Steinert in Switzerland. It is said that it was the influence of Rudolf Steinert in the 1920s that made Hilma af Klint stop using geometrical forms in her painting.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003e\u003cb\u003e6. The \u003c/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003ePaintings For The Temple\u003c/i\u003e\u003c/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e (1906 \u0026#8211; 1915) Are Known as Hilma af Klint’s Magnum Opus\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_30115\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-30115\" style=\"width: 595px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"\u003e\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-30115\" src=\"https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/hilma-af-klint-ten-largest-youth-painting-e1598467337756.jpg\" alt=\"the ten largest youth painting\" width=\"595\" height=\"800\" /\u003e\u003cfigcaption id=\"caption-attachment-30115\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://www.royalacademy.org.uk/article/hilma-af-klint\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\"\u003e\u003ci\u003eGroup IV, No. 3, The Ten Largest, Youth\u003c/i\u003e by Hilma af Klint\u003c/a\u003e, 1907. Source: The Royal Academy of Arts, London\u003c/figcaption\u003e\u003c/figure\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe painter began her \u003ci\u003ePaintings for the Temple\u003c/i\u003e in 1906 and completed them in 1915, a period during which she created around 193 paintings in various series and groups. As the title of the cycle suggests, she envisioned these paintings in her temple, which was never realized. On the painting process of the \u003ci\u003ePaintings for the Temple\u003c/i\u003e, \u003ca href=\"https://www.modernamuseet.se/stockholm/en/exhibitions/hilma-af-klint-2013/topics/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\"\u003ethe artist said\u003c/a\u003e: \u0026#8220;The pictures were painted directly through me, without any preliminary drawings, and with great force. I had no idea what the paintings were supposed to depict; nevertheless, I worked swiftly and surely, without changing a single brush stroke.”\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHilma af Klint is said to have painted like a madwoman when it came to these pictures in her early years. In 1908 alone, 111 paintings in various formats are believed to have been created. A famous series from the large painting cycle is called \u003ci\u003eThe Ten Largest\u003c/i\u003e. The abstract compositions describe the course of life, from birth to death, reduced to a few forms and bright colors.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e7. Her Posthumous Fame Has Skyrocketed in the 21st Century\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_30108\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-30108\" style=\"width: 800px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"\u003e\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-30108\" src=\"https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/hilma-af-klint-abstract-art-exhibition-guggenheim-2018.jpg\" alt=\"hilma af klint exhibition guggenheim\" width=\"800\" height=\"395\" srcset=\"https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/hilma-af-klint-abstract-art-exhibition-guggenheim-2018.jpg 1500w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/hilma-af-klint-abstract-art-exhibition-guggenheim-2018-300x148.jpg 300w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/hilma-af-klint-abstract-art-exhibition-guggenheim-2018-1024x505.jpg 1024w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/hilma-af-klint-abstract-art-exhibition-guggenheim-2018-768x379.jpg 768w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/hilma-af-klint-abstract-art-exhibition-guggenheim-2018-150x74.jpg 150w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/hilma-af-klint-abstract-art-exhibition-guggenheim-2018-600x296.jpg 600w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/hilma-af-klint-abstract-art-exhibition-guggenheim-2018-696x343.jpg 696w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/hilma-af-klint-abstract-art-exhibition-guggenheim-2018-1392x687.jpg 1392w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/hilma-af-klint-abstract-art-exhibition-guggenheim-2018-1068x527.jpg 1068w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/hilma-af-klint-abstract-art-exhibition-guggenheim-2018-851x420.jpg 851w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/hilma-af-klint-abstract-art-exhibition-guggenheim-2018-324x160.jpg 324w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/hilma-af-klint-abstract-art-exhibition-guggenheim-2018-648x320.jpg 648w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" /\u003e\u003cfigcaption id=\"caption-attachment-30108\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://www.guggenheim.org/blogs/checklist/who-was-hilma-af-klint-at-the-guggenheim-paintings-by-an-artist-ahead-of-her-time\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\"\u003e\u003ci\u003eGroup IV, The Ten Largest at Exhibition at Guggenheim\u003c/i\u003e by Hilma af Klint\u003c/a\u003e, 2018. Source: The Guggenheim Museum, New York\u003c/figcaption\u003e\u003c/figure\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHilma af Klint was one of the most exciting artists of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.thecollector.com/a-brief-timeline-of-20th-century-visual-art-movements/\"\u003e20th century\u003c/a\u003e. She was a pioneer of abstract art and also a pioneer in her role as a woman. For decades the Swedish artist was known to only a few, and her mystical works existed only under the radar of an (art-historical) public. With the feminist movement and the realization that Hilma af Klint was possibly the earliest example of abstraction in art, she gained much more recognition in the 1980s and 1990s.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eToday, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.thecollector.com/guggenheim-museum-iconic-art-institution/\"\u003eGuggenheim\u003c/a\u003e Museum in New York reminds the viewer of a temple that Hilma af Klint would have wished for her artworks. Fittingly, a major retrospective of the artist\u0026#8217;s work took place at the Guggenheim Museum, in the Museum of Abstract Art, from October 2018 to April 2019. Since a large retrospective at the Guggenheim Museum in New York and a change in taste and perspective in the general public, she has gained in importance abruptly.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eOriginally published: September 5, 2020. Last update: July 15, 2024, by \u003ca href=\"https://www.thecollector.com/author/elizabeth-berry/\"\u003eElizabeth Berry\u003c/a\u003e.\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n","slug":"hilma-af-klint-abstract-art","uri":"/hilma-af-klint-abstract-art/","featuredImage":{"node":{"sourceUrl":"https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/who-was-hilma-af-klint-768x442.jpg","altText":"Who Was Hilma af Klint"}},"includeUpdated":{"articleUpdated":null,"includeVideoIcon":null,"includeTableContent":null},"author":{"node":{"name":"Alexandra Karg","userId":2,"firstName":"Alexandra","lastName":"Karg","nicename":null,"slug":"alexandrakarg","description":"Hey! I am Alexandra Karg. I am researching, writing and lecturing on topics in the field of art and culture. In my hometown of Berlin I completed my studies in literature and art history. Since then I have been working as a journalist and writer. Besides writing, it is my passion to read, travel and visit museums and galleries. On TheCollector.com you will find articles by me about art and culture, especially about topics referring to the 20th century and the present.","designation":"BA Art History \u0026 Literature","avatar":{"url":"https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/alexandra-karg-1-110x110.jpg"}}},"categories":{"edges":[{"node":{"name":"Artists","slug":"artists"}}]}},{"id":"cG9zdDo3ODYxMQ==","title":"10 Modern Artists Who Were Influenced by the Occult","subtitle":"The occult roots of modern art are way more profound than it might seem. Take a look at 10 modern artists who were influenced by the world of occultism.","content":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-78600\" src=\"https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/modern-artists-influenced-by-occult.jpg\" alt=\"modern artists influenced by occult\" width=\"1200\" height=\"690\" srcset=\"https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/modern-artists-influenced-by-occult.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/modern-artists-influenced-by-occult-300x173.jpg 300w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/modern-artists-influenced-by-occult-1024x589.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/modern-artists-influenced-by-occult-768x442.jpg 768w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/modern-artists-influenced-by-occult-150x86.jpg 150w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/modern-artists-influenced-by-occult-600x345.jpg 600w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/modern-artists-influenced-by-occult-696x400.jpg 696w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/modern-artists-influenced-by-occult-1068x614.jpg 1068w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/modern-artists-influenced-by-occult-730x420.jpg 730w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" /\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMediumship, Eastern philosophy, and ancient healing rituals are practices that left their mark on many modern artworks. The influence of occultism and spiritualism on the development of modern art was especially significant. Here are 10 modern artists who took inspiration from the otherworldly realms including Wassily Kandinsky, Hilma af Klint, and Piet Mondrian.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e1. Modern Artist Wassily Kandinsky (1866 \u0026#8211; 1944)\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_78604\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-78604\" style=\"width: 1041px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"\u003e\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-78604\" src=\"https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/kandinsky-tensions-painting-1937.jpg\" alt=\"kandinsky tensions painting 1937\" width=\"1041\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/kandinsky-tensions-painting-1937.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/kandinsky-tensions-painting-1937-300x231.jpg 300w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/kandinsky-tensions-painting-1937-1024x787.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/kandinsky-tensions-painting-1937-768x590.jpg 768w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/kandinsky-tensions-painting-1937-150x115.jpg 150w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/kandinsky-tensions-painting-1937-600x461.jpg 600w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/kandinsky-tensions-painting-1937-696x535.jpg 696w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/kandinsky-tensions-painting-1937-1068x821.jpg 1068w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/kandinsky-tensions-painting-1937-547x420.jpg 547w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/kandinsky-tensions-painting-1937-1093x840.jpg 1093w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/kandinsky-tensions-painting-1937-80x60.jpg 80w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1041px) 100vw, 1041px\" /\u003e\u003cfigcaption id=\"caption-attachment-78604\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"\u003eCalmed Tensions by Wassily Kandinsky, 1937, via Sotheby’s\u003c/figcaption\u003e\u003c/figure\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eKandinsky is perhaps the first artist that comes to mind when we think about abstract art. We now know that he was definitely not the first abstract artist, but nevertheless, he became one of the leading theoreticians of abstract art and spirituality. His most widely known book,\u003ci\u003e Concerning the Spiritual in Art\u003c/i\u003e, was an elaborate study of the connections between line, color, emotion, and the spiritual state of an artist. Kandinsky further disconnected art from tangible reality, placing it within its own realm.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe artist studied Russian folk tradition and beliefs, as well as Eastern philosophy and religious practices. Another aspect that contributed to his explorations of the spiritual was his synesthesia. Synesthesia is a neurological phenomenon that triggers a mixed perception of different senses. This meant that Kandinsky was able to literally hear colors, lines, and textures.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e2. Piet Mondrian (1872 \u0026#8211; 1944)\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_78603\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-78603\" style=\"width: 1098px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"\u003e\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-78603\" src=\"https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/mondrian-evolution-painting-1911.jpg\" alt=\"mondrian evolution painting 1911\" width=\"1098\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/mondrian-evolution-painting-1911.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/mondrian-evolution-painting-1911-300x219.jpg 300w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/mondrian-evolution-painting-1911-1024x746.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/mondrian-evolution-painting-1911-768x559.jpg 768w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/mondrian-evolution-painting-1911-150x109.jpg 150w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/mondrian-evolution-painting-1911-600x437.jpg 600w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/mondrian-evolution-painting-1911-696x507.jpg 696w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/mondrian-evolution-painting-1911-1068x778.jpg 1068w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/mondrian-evolution-painting-1911-577x420.jpg 577w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/mondrian-evolution-painting-1911-1153x840.jpg 1153w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/mondrian-evolution-painting-1911-324x235.jpg 324w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1098px) 100vw, 1098px\" /\u003e\u003cfigcaption id=\"caption-attachment-78603\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"\u003eEvolution by Piet Mondrian, 1911, via Arthive\u003c/figcaption\u003e\u003c/figure\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMondrian is best known for his geometric abstractions. Still, the famous \u003ca href=\"https://www.thecollector.com/understanding-modern-art-artworks/\"\u003emodern artist\u003c/a\u003e was also working on \u003ca href=\"https://www.thecollector.com/why-did-piet-mondrian-paint-trees/\"\u003efigurative art\u003c/a\u003e that was heavily inspired by the occult ideas circulating in Europe. Spirituality was important for Mondrian in all stages of his life. Mondrian was raised in a Protestant family, but during his time at the Amsterdam Art Academy, he became interested in theosophy, yoga, and meditation. One of the core concepts for theosophists was evolution. However, they applied it not only to the physical development of species but to the spiritual development of the human race. Mondrian’s 1911 painting titled \u003ci\u003eEvolution \u003c/i\u003eillustrated that concept. It represents humanity surpassing the limits of the physical body, race, and gender.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e3. Hilma af Klint (1962 \u0026#8211; 1944)\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_78606\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-78606\" style=\"width: 653px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"\u003e\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-78606\" src=\"https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/hilma-af-klint-dove-painting-1915.jpg\" alt=\"hilma af klint dove painting 1915\" width=\"653\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/hilma-af-klint-dove-painting-1915.jpg 980w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/hilma-af-klint-dove-painting-1915-245x300.jpg 245w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/hilma-af-klint-dove-painting-1915-836x1024.jpg 836w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/hilma-af-klint-dove-painting-1915-768x940.jpg 768w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/hilma-af-klint-dove-painting-1915-150x184.jpg 150w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/hilma-af-klint-dove-painting-1915-300x367.jpg 300w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/hilma-af-klint-dove-painting-1915-600x735.jpg 600w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/hilma-af-klint-dove-painting-1915-696x852.jpg 696w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/hilma-af-klint-dove-painting-1915-343x420.jpg 343w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/hilma-af-klint-dove-painting-1915-686x840.jpg 686w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 653px) 100vw, 653px\" /\u003e\u003cfigcaption id=\"caption-attachment-78606\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"\u003eGroup IX/UW, The Dove, no. 9 by Hilma af Klint, 1915, via ArtForum\u003c/figcaption\u003e\u003c/figure\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://www.thecollector.com/how-occultism-spiritualism-inspired-hilma-af-klint-paintings/\"\u003eHilma af Klint\u003c/a\u003e was forgotten for years until her art finally reached the audience. She created her astonishing art in solitude, guided by \u003ci\u003eHigher Masters \u003c/i\u003ecalled Amaliel and Ananda. According to af Klint, these beings contacted her during a spiritual seance, telling her that she had a mission of bringing sacred knowledge to the people of her world. Her paintings were part of coded messages and she explained their meanings in her numerous notebooks. Her works were meant to serve as diagrams of intangible and otherworldly processes.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHilma af Klint\u0026#8217;s most famous project was called \u003ci\u003ePaintings for the Temple\u003c/i\u003e. Almost two hundred paintings were supposed to hang in a spiral-structured building that she designed. However, she never got to build it. In the end, her wish came true in a way when her works were exhibited in the famous spiral-shaped temple-like building of the Guggenheim Museum in New York in 2018.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e4. František Kupka (1871 \u0026#8211; 1957)\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_78610\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-78610\" style=\"width: 644px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"\u003e\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-78610\" src=\"https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/kupka-verticals-painting-1911.jpg\" alt=\"kupka verticals painting 1911\" width=\"644\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/kupka-verticals-painting-1911.jpg 966w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/kupka-verticals-painting-1911-242x300.jpg 242w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/kupka-verticals-painting-1911-824x1024.jpg 824w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/kupka-verticals-painting-1911-768x954.jpg 768w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/kupka-verticals-painting-1911-150x186.jpg 150w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/kupka-verticals-painting-1911-300x373.jpg 300w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/kupka-verticals-painting-1911-600x745.jpg 600w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/kupka-verticals-painting-1911-696x865.jpg 696w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/kupka-verticals-painting-1911-338x420.jpg 338w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/kupka-verticals-painting-1911-676x840.jpg 676w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 644px) 100vw, 644px\" /\u003e\u003cfigcaption id=\"caption-attachment-78610\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"\u003eStudy for the Language of Verticals by František Kupka, 1911, via Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid\u003c/figcaption\u003e\u003c/figure\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCzech artist \u003ca href=\"https://www.thecollector.com/differences-between-orphism-and-cubism/\"\u003eFrantišek Kupka\u003c/a\u003e was another important figure for the genesis of abstract art. His spiritualist path started way earlier than his artistic career. In his early teens, Kupka worked as an apprentice for a saddle maker. The older man was a devoted spiritualist and impressed young Kupka with stories about the cosmos and sacred geometry. Starting his career as a figurative artist, Kupka gradually moved towards total abstraction. He called his paintings \u003ci\u003ecolor symphonies\u003c/i\u003e and explored the ways of expressing his inner state and turbulence through the harmonies of lines and colors. Just like many others on this list, Kupka experimented with mediumship and trance, seeking contact with the higher worlds.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e5. Jeanne Jacquemin (1863 \u0026#8211; 1938)\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_78609\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-78609\" style=\"width: 474px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"\u003e\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-78609\" src=\"https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/jacquemin-crown-drawing-1892.jpg\" alt=\"jacquemin crown drawing 1892\" width=\"474\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/jacquemin-crown-drawing-1892.jpg 711w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/jacquemin-crown-drawing-1892-178x300.jpg 178w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/jacquemin-crown-drawing-1892-607x1024.jpg 607w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/jacquemin-crown-drawing-1892-150x253.jpg 150w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/jacquemin-crown-drawing-1892-300x506.jpg 300w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/jacquemin-crown-drawing-1892-600x1013.jpg 600w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/jacquemin-crown-drawing-1892-696x1175.jpg 696w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/jacquemin-crown-drawing-1892-249x420.jpg 249w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/jacquemin-crown-drawing-1892-498x840.jpg 498w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 474px) 100vw, 474px\" /\u003e\u003cfigcaption id=\"caption-attachment-78609\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"\u003eThe Painful and Glorious Crown by Jeanne Jacquemin, 1892, via Tumblr\u003c/figcaption\u003e\u003c/figure\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThere is not much information on this mysterious French artist, but the remaining evidence about her life, work, and recognition is truly intriguing. The figures on her pastels can be seen as self-portraits, but also represent bodies that are quite androgynous. Androgyny was a concept popular among Symbolist artists, representing the next level of the development of the human soul, allowing it to surpass the biological and societal restrictions of sex and gender. Jacquemin even went as far as to implement her features into the drawing of the head of Jesus Christ which could have been understood as an outrageous act.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAlthough Jacquemin’s interest in various forms of occultism such as Occult Christianity and Rosicrucianism partially fueled her artistic progress and success, it could have harmed her as well. Some art historians believe Jacquemin’s art was deliberately swept under the rug because of her questionable occult alliances. In many sources, contemporaries described Jacquemin as a devoted Satanist who lived in a Satanic commune for a period of time.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e6. Johannes Itten (1888 \u0026#8211; 1967)\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_78608\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-78608\" style=\"width: 545px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"\u003e\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-78608\" src=\"https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/itten-sphere-drawing-1921.jpg\" alt=\"itten sphere drawing 1921\" width=\"545\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/itten-sphere-drawing-1921.jpg 817w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/itten-sphere-drawing-1921-204x300.jpg 204w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/itten-sphere-drawing-1921-697x1024.jpg 697w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/itten-sphere-drawing-1921-768x1128.jpg 768w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/itten-sphere-drawing-1921-150x220.jpg 150w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/itten-sphere-drawing-1921-300x441.jpg 300w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/itten-sphere-drawing-1921-600x881.jpg 600w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/itten-sphere-drawing-1921-696x1022.jpg 696w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/itten-sphere-drawing-1921-286x420.jpg 286w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/itten-sphere-drawing-1921-572x840.jpg 572w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 545px) 100vw, 545px\" /\u003e\u003cfigcaption id=\"caption-attachment-78608\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"\u003eColor Sphere in 7 Light Values and 12 Tones by Johannes Itten, 1921, via MoMA, New York\u003c/figcaption\u003e\u003c/figure\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://www.thecollector.com/johannes-itten-bauhaus-facts/\"\u003eJohannes Itten\u003c/a\u003e was one of the main figures of the Bauhaus movement. He was the person behind many ideas on color theory that are still taught in art schools today. However, Itten thought that mysticism and exploration of the spiritual were as important for an artist as proper education and constant practice. Itten was a member of the Mazdaznan, a Zoroastrianism-based fire cult. During his Bauhaus years, Itten implemented Mazdaznan breathing exercises, gymnastics, and even a special diet to his teaching. There was, however, a darker side to it. Being a brand-new teaching originating in America, despite its disguise as an ancient Asian cult, Mazdaznan relied heavily on racism and directly proclaimed the spiritual superiority of people who were white. This idea did not sit well with many Bauhaus teachers and students, who were deeply interested in African and Asian art.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e7. Nicholas Roerich (1874 \u0026#8211; 1947)\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_78601\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-78601\" style=\"width: 1200px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"\u003e\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-78601\" src=\"https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/roerich-serpent-painting-1924.jpg\" alt=\"roerich serpent painting 1924\" width=\"1200\" height=\"753\" srcset=\"https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/roerich-serpent-painting-1924.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/roerich-serpent-painting-1924-300x188.jpg 300w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/roerich-serpent-painting-1924-1024x643.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/roerich-serpent-painting-1924-768x482.jpg 768w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/roerich-serpent-painting-1924-150x94.jpg 150w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/roerich-serpent-painting-1924-600x377.jpg 600w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/roerich-serpent-painting-1924-696x437.jpg 696w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/roerich-serpent-painting-1924-1068x670.jpg 1068w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/roerich-serpent-painting-1924-669x420.jpg 669w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" /\u003e\u003cfigcaption id=\"caption-attachment-78601\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"\u003eSerpent of Wisdom by Nicholas Roerich, 1924, via Obelisk\u003c/figcaption\u003e\u003c/figure\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBorn in Saint Petersburg to a well-off German father and a Russian mother, \u003ca href=\"https://www.thecollector.com/nicholas-roerich-shangri-la-painting/\"\u003eNicholas Roerich\u003c/a\u003e became interested in archaeology, Russian history, and folktales in his early years. Later on, his interest in religion and history would lead him away from Russia to the United States and then to India.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAlready an accomplished artist, Roerich became widely known after his travels to India and explorations of Eastern philosophies and religions. Roerich went deep enough to found his own highly controversial spiritual teaching \u003ci\u003eAgni Yoga\u003c/i\u003e, which combined Hindu philosophy with Western occult tradition. His most famous paintings show images of Buddhist and Hindu sacred sites, as well as scenes from Hindu mythology. Spiritual explorations aside, Roerich is also remembered as the person behind the so-called Roerich Pact, the treaty on the protection of cultural heritage during military conflicts.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e8. Emma Kunz (1892 \u0026#8211; 1963)\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_78605\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-78605\" style=\"width: 790px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"\u003e\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-78605\" src=\"https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/kunz-393-drawing.jpg\" alt=\"kunz 393 drawing\" width=\"790\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/kunz-393-drawing.jpg 987w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/kunz-393-drawing-296x300.jpg 296w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/kunz-393-drawing-768x778.jpg 768w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/kunz-393-drawing-150x152.jpg 150w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/kunz-393-drawing-300x304.jpg 300w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/kunz-393-drawing-600x608.jpg 600w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/kunz-393-drawing-696x705.jpg 696w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/kunz-393-drawing-415x420.jpg 415w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/kunz-393-drawing-829x840.jpg 829w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 790px) 100vw, 790px\" /\u003e\u003cfigcaption id=\"caption-attachment-78605\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"\u003e№393 by Emma Kunz, date unknown, via El Pais\u003c/figcaption\u003e\u003c/figure\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEmma Kunz considered herself a healer and medical practitioner. Her works were not supposed to be seen as artworks per se but as medical instruments and diagrams of spiritual knowledge. Kunz had no education or training apart from her time at a village school. She directly refused to read any other books other than a book on herbalism, however, she had an intelligent approach to her explorations of the spiritual. Kunz made most of her drawings using two pendulums, jade, and silver, which marked the trajectories and intersection points on the drawings. She then connected the marked areas, creating brightly-colored geometric patterns. While Kunz was open to explaining the meanings of her drawings to others, she never allowed anyone to take notes of these explanations.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e9. Paul Ranson (1861 \u0026#8211; 1909)\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_78602\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-78602\" style=\"width: 1162px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"\u003e\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-78602\" src=\"https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/ranson-witches-painting-1891.jpg\" alt=\"ranson witches painting 1891\" width=\"1162\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/ranson-witches-painting-1891.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/ranson-witches-painting-1891-300x207.jpg 300w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/ranson-witches-painting-1891-1024x705.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/ranson-witches-painting-1891-768x529.jpg 768w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/ranson-witches-painting-1891-150x103.jpg 150w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/ranson-witches-painting-1891-218x150.jpg 218w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/ranson-witches-painting-1891-436x300.jpg 436w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/ranson-witches-painting-1891-600x413.jpg 600w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/ranson-witches-painting-1891-696x479.jpg 696w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/ranson-witches-painting-1891-1068x735.jpg 1068w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/ranson-witches-painting-1891-610x420.jpg 610w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/ranson-witches-painting-1891-100x70.jpg 100w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1162px) 100vw, 1162px\" /\u003e\u003cfigcaption id=\"caption-attachment-78602\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"\u003eWitches around the Fire by Paul Ranson, 1891, via Flashbak\u003c/figcaption\u003e\u003c/figure\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe French artist Paul Ranson was an educated skeptic and that is precisely the reason why he made it to this list. He was openly anti-clerical, being radically opposed to any religious authority, while at the same time studying religious texts and keeping a library that consisted of esoteric literature. Although it is unlikely that he was ever \u003ci\u003etruly \u003c/i\u003ea believer, at different stages of his life he took inspiration from various spiritual and occult sources. He was interested in witchcraft, Christianity, Theosophy, and Satanism.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eRanson’s paintings were full of ancient \u003ca href=\"https://www.thecollector.com/magic-ancient-world-egyptian-deities/\"\u003eEgyptian\u003c/a\u003e symbols, characters from Indian mythology, and nude witches. They were often decorative. Ranson used occult visuals as brightly-covered theater backdrops for exciting stories. In fact, he also made theater puppets.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e10. Modern Artist Georgiana Houghton (1814 \u0026#8211; 1884)\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_78607\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-78607\" style=\"width: 581px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"\u003e\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-78607\" src=\"https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/houghton-flower-painting-1862.jpg\" alt=\"houghton flower painting 1862\" width=\"581\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/houghton-flower-painting-1862.jpg 872w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/houghton-flower-painting-1862-218x300.jpg 218w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/houghton-flower-painting-1862-744x1024.jpg 744w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/houghton-flower-painting-1862-768x1057.jpg 768w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/houghton-flower-painting-1862-150x206.jpg 150w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/houghton-flower-painting-1862-300x413.jpg 300w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/houghton-flower-painting-1862-600x826.jpg 600w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/houghton-flower-painting-1862-696x958.jpg 696w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/houghton-flower-painting-1862-305x420.jpg 305w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/houghton-flower-painting-1862-610x840.jpg 610w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 581px) 100vw, 581px\" /\u003e\u003cfigcaption id=\"caption-attachment-78607\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"\u003eFlower of Samuel Warrand by Georgiana Houghton, 1862, via AWARE Women Artists\u003c/figcaption\u003e\u003c/figure\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eJust like Hilma af Klint decades later, Georgiana Houghton created automatic drawings, claiming that she was led by a spirit called Lenny along with seventy Archangels. As a result, she produced abstract compositions of interwoven lights decades before the word \u003ci\u003eabstraction\u003c/i\u003e was ever applied to art.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHoughton’s reputation was spoiled by her association with the notorious photographer Frederick Hudson. Together with Houghton, Hudson made the so-called spirit photographs of deceased people lurking behind their living relatives. Both Hudson and Houghton were soon exposed as frauds. It became known that they were using double exposure or even appearing in photographs themselves to create an impression of another figure looming over their clients’ shoulders.\u003c/p\u003e\n","slug":"modern-artists-influenced-by-occult","uri":"/modern-artists-influenced-by-occult/","featuredImage":{"node":{"sourceUrl":"https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/modern-artists-influenced-by-occult-768x442.jpg","altText":"modern artists influenced by occult"}},"includeUpdated":{"articleUpdated":null,"includeVideoIcon":null,"includeTableContent":null},"author":{"node":{"name":"Anastasiia S. Kirpalov","userId":324,"firstName":"Anastasiia","lastName":"Sukhareva","nicename":null,"slug":"anastasiia-sukhareva","description":"Anastasiia holds a MA degree in Art history from the University of Groningen, the Netherlands. Previously she worked as a museum assistant, caring for the collection of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist art. She specializes in topics of early abstract art, nineteenth-century gender, spiritualism and occultism. Outside of her work, she is interested in cult studies, criminology, and fashion history.","designation":"MA Art History, Modern \u0026 Contemporary Art ","avatar":{"url":"https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Anastasiia-Sukhareva-author-150x150.jpg"}}},"categories":{"edges":[{"node":{"name":"Art","slug":"art"}},{"node":{"name":"Artists","slug":"artists"}},{"node":{"name":"Modern \u0026 Contemporary Art","slug":"modern-contemporary-art"}}]}},{"id":"cG9zdDo5NzgyMQ==","title":"What Are the Recurring Symbols in Hilma af Klint’s Work?","subtitle":"Hilma af Klint’s works were a mystery even to the artist herself, so she spent years decoding symbols in them. ","content":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-97773\" src=\"https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/hilma-af-klint-work-recurring-symbols.jpg\" alt=\"hilma af klint work recurring symbols\" width=\"1200\" height=\"690\" srcset=\"https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/hilma-af-klint-work-recurring-symbols.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/hilma-af-klint-work-recurring-symbols-300x173.jpg 300w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/hilma-af-klint-work-recurring-symbols-1024x589.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/hilma-af-klint-work-recurring-symbols-768x442.jpg 768w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/hilma-af-klint-work-recurring-symbols-150x86.jpg 150w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/hilma-af-klint-work-recurring-symbols-600x345.jpg 600w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/hilma-af-klint-work-recurring-symbols-696x400.jpg 696w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/hilma-af-klint-work-recurring-symbols-1068x614.jpg 1068w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/hilma-af-klint-work-recurring-symbols-730x420.jpg 730w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" /\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Swedish artist Hilma af Klint finally received praise as the forgotten pioneer of abstraction. She had a profound interest in occult and spiritualist practices and spent years trying to decode images that were, according to af Klint, sent to her by the higher beings. In her extensive notes, she left a dictionary of symbols, colors, and elements. Read on to learn more about the hidden meanings in Hilma af Klint’s work.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWhy Makes Hilma af Klint So Special?\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_97774\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-97774\" style=\"width: 1200px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"\u003e\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-97774\" src=\"https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/hilma-af-klint-photo.jpg\" alt=\"hilma af klint photo\" width=\"1200\" height=\"793\" srcset=\"https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/hilma-af-klint-photo.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/hilma-af-klint-photo-300x198.jpg 300w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/hilma-af-klint-photo-1024x677.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/hilma-af-klint-photo-768x508.jpg 768w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/hilma-af-klint-photo-150x99.jpg 150w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/hilma-af-klint-photo-600x397.jpg 600w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/hilma-af-klint-photo-696x460.jpg 696w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/hilma-af-klint-photo-1068x706.jpg 1068w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/hilma-af-klint-photo-636x420.jpg 636w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" /\u003e\u003cfigcaption id=\"caption-attachment-97774\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"\u003eHilma af Klint, c.1890, via The Sydney Morning Herald\u003c/figcaption\u003e\u003c/figure\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAt the time of \u003ca href=\"https://www.thecollector.com/hilma-af-klint-abstract-art/\"\u003eHilma af Klint’s\u003c/a\u003e birth, Sweden was a rural country steadily moving to industrialism. This ambition was reflected in educational reforms. In Sweden, women received the opportunity to obtain higher education in 1864. In comparison, the leading art academy in France, the legendary École des Beaux-Arts, started to admit women only in 1897. The legal opportunities for Swedish artists, however, still did not guarantee the absence of discrimination. The widespread belief persisted among the public and art academy officials, which stated that women were only inherently capable of copying and not of innovation.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://www.thecollector.com/scientific-roots-hilma-af-klint-work/\"\u003eHilma af Klint\u003c/a\u003e was born in 1862 into a family of naval officers and cartographers. Her decision to become an artist was unexpected, yet she did not face opposition from her family. Some experts believe that the basic knowledge of cartography could have contributed to her later spiritual exploration and diagramming.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_97777\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-97777\" style=\"width: 1025px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"\u003e\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-97777\" src=\"https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/defem-spiral-drawing.jpg\" alt=\"defem spiral drawing\" width=\"1025\" height=\"1200\" srcset=\"https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/defem-spiral-drawing.jpg 1025w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/defem-spiral-drawing-256x300.jpg 256w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/defem-spiral-drawing-875x1024.jpg 875w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/defem-spiral-drawing-768x899.jpg 768w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/defem-spiral-drawing-150x176.jpg 150w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/defem-spiral-drawing-300x351.jpg 300w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/defem-spiral-drawing-600x702.jpg 600w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/defem-spiral-drawing-696x815.jpg 696w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/defem-spiral-drawing-359x420.jpg 359w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/defem-spiral-drawing-718x840.jpg 718w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1025px) 100vw, 1025px\" /\u003e\u003cfigcaption id=\"caption-attachment-97777\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"\u003eAn automatic drawing made by De Fem during a spiritual seance, 1903, via The Guggenheim Museum, New York\u003c/figcaption\u003e\u003c/figure\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAfter finishing her studies at the Stockholm art school, Hilma af Klint established a career as a botanical and zoological illustrator. Apart from painting, she found a hobby: together with four other women artists she came up with a group called\u003ci\u003e De Fem\u003c/i\u003e (The Five). The group conducted \u003ca href=\"https://www.thecollector.com/how-occultism-spiritualism-inspired-hilma-af-klint-paintings/\"\u003espiritual seances\u003c/a\u003e and Bible study sessions. During the seances, one of the women entered a trance-like state and spoke on behalf of spirits, sometimes even making automatic drawings. During another seance, spiritual beings Amaliel and Ananda allegedly contacted them, expressing their need to find a mediator between them and the human world. The mediator’s role was to record and pass on precious knowledge of spiritual matters. Hilma af Klint was the only person who agreed to do it. Soon, she would start her four-decade-long journey exploring the invisible and creating \u003ca href=\"https://www.thecollector.com/modern-artists-influenced-by-occult/\"\u003egroundbreaking art\u003c/a\u003e, unlike anything the world had ever seen.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eHilma af Klint and Symbols\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_97778\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-97778\" style=\"width: 855px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"\u003e\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-97778\" src=\"https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/hilma-af-klint-chaos-painting.jpg\" alt=\"hilma af klint chaos painting\" width=\"855\" height=\"1200\" srcset=\"https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/hilma-af-klint-chaos-painting.jpg 855w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/hilma-af-klint-chaos-painting-214x300.jpg 214w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/hilma-af-klint-chaos-painting-730x1024.jpg 730w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/hilma-af-klint-chaos-painting-768x1078.jpg 768w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/hilma-af-klint-chaos-painting-150x211.jpg 150w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/hilma-af-klint-chaos-painting-300x421.jpg 300w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/hilma-af-klint-chaos-painting-600x842.jpg 600w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/hilma-af-klint-chaos-painting-696x977.jpg 696w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/hilma-af-klint-chaos-painting-299x420.jpg 299w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/hilma-af-klint-chaos-painting-599x840.jpg 599w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 855px) 100vw, 855px\" /\u003e\u003cfigcaption id=\"caption-attachment-97778\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"\u003eGroup I, Primordial Chaos, No. 16, from The WU/Rose Series by Hilma af Klint, 1906-7, via Hilma af Klint Foundation\u003c/figcaption\u003e\u003c/figure\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHilma af Klint’s first series of abstract works was revealed to her in 1906. The passive voice in the previous sentence is not a mistake. The artist claimed that she could not control the painting process, as if someone else was guiding her hand. In her diary, she stated:\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cblockquote\u003e\n\u003ch4\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe pictures were painted directly through me, without any preliminary drawings, and with great force. I had no idea what the paintings were supposed to depict; nevertheless, I worked swiftly and surely, without changing a single brushstroke\u003c/i\u003e.\u003c/h4\u003e\n\u003c/blockquote\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThese paintings barely represented any recognizable figures and had no particular narrative. They were essentially the first abstract works in the history of European art. Over the next forty decades, she would continue her exploration, leaving behind over a thousand abstract paintings. Despite its general non-representativity, some elements were familiar. Among curvy lines and geometric forms, flowers bloomed, swans curled their long necks, and Christian saints appeared next to \u003ca href=\"https://www.thecollector.com/noble-eightfold-path/\"\u003eBuddhist\u003c/a\u003e mandalas. The problem was that Hilma af Klint had no idea what she painted. Struggling to decode the meanings of her work, she left hundreds of notebooks filled with thoughts and ideas. She even tried to seek guidance from prominent spiritualist figures of her time, but no one was able to help.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAfter years of research and exploration, Hilma af Klint actually managed to produce a dictionary of symbols present in her work. The descriptions were just as vague and confusing as her works, yet they still provided a glimpse into the true purpose and message of af Klint’s oeuvre.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSnail\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_97782\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-97782\" style=\"width: 2002px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"\u003e\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-97782\" src=\"https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/hilma-af-klint-evolution-4-painting.jpg\" alt=\"hilma af klint evolution 4 painting\" width=\"2002\" height=\"1456\" srcset=\"https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/hilma-af-klint-evolution-4-painting.jpg 2002w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/hilma-af-klint-evolution-4-painting-300x218.jpg 300w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/hilma-af-klint-evolution-4-painting-1024x745.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/hilma-af-klint-evolution-4-painting-768x559.jpg 768w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/hilma-af-klint-evolution-4-painting-1536x1117.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/hilma-af-klint-evolution-4-painting-150x109.jpg 150w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/hilma-af-klint-evolution-4-painting-600x436.jpg 600w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/hilma-af-klint-evolution-4-painting-696x506.jpg 696w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/hilma-af-klint-evolution-4-painting-1392x1012.jpg 1392w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/hilma-af-klint-evolution-4-painting-1068x777.jpg 1068w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/hilma-af-klint-evolution-4-painting-1920x1396.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/hilma-af-klint-evolution-4-painting-578x420.jpg 578w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/hilma-af-klint-evolution-4-painting-1155x840.jpg 1155w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/hilma-af-klint-evolution-4-painting-324x235.jpg 324w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/hilma-af-klint-evolution-4-painting-648x470.jpg 648w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2002px) 100vw, 2002px\" /\u003e\u003cfigcaption id=\"caption-attachment-97782\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"\u003eEvolution #4, Group VI, WUS/Seven-Pointed Star Series by Hilma af Klint, 1908, Hilma af Klint Foundation, via Arthive\u003c/figcaption\u003e\u003c/figure\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA snail, or a spiral, is one of the most popular symbols seen in Hilma af Klint’s work, consistent throughout her entire oeuvre. The earliest appearance of it happened even before af Klint’s personal turn to abstraction, in automatic drawings of the \u003ci\u003eDe Fem\u003c/i\u003e group. Over the years, the symbol took different shapes, ranging from a recognizable biomorphic motif to a series of concentric circles.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn her personal notes, she left an explanation: the snail symbolized the universe, spiritual evolution, and the obstacles on humanity’s way toward it. Equalling a tiny snail shell to the entire universe was a reflection of a spiritual idea of the essential unity of all elements. According to a popular spiritual doctrine of the time, the smallest element of the universe was a direct reflection of the largest element in it—the universe itself.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDuring her communication with Amaliel, the being asked her to build a spiral-shaped temple to house her paintings. Unfortunately, Hilma af Klint did not live long enough to fulfill the project. However, her groundbreaking 2018 Guggenheim exhibition, which promoted Hilma af Klint’s oeuvre to the whole world happened in New York’s spiral-shaped temple of art.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eLetters\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_97775\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-97775\" style=\"width: 1200px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"\u003e\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-97775\" src=\"https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/hilma-af-klint-evolution-16-painting.jpg\" alt=\"hilma af klint evolution 16 painting\" width=\"1200\" height=\"920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/hilma-af-klint-evolution-16-painting.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/hilma-af-klint-evolution-16-painting-300x230.jpg 300w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/hilma-af-klint-evolution-16-painting-1024x785.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/hilma-af-klint-evolution-16-painting-768x589.jpg 768w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/hilma-af-klint-evolution-16-painting-150x115.jpg 150w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/hilma-af-klint-evolution-16-painting-600x460.jpg 600w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/hilma-af-klint-evolution-16-painting-696x534.jpg 696w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/hilma-af-klint-evolution-16-painting-1068x819.jpg 1068w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/hilma-af-klint-evolution-16-painting-548x420.jpg 548w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/hilma-af-klint-evolution-16-painting-1096x840.jpg 1096w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/hilma-af-klint-evolution-16-painting-80x60.jpg 80w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" /\u003e\u003cfigcaption id=\"caption-attachment-97775\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"\u003eEvolution #16, Group VI, WUS/Seven-Pointed Star Series by Hilma af Klint, 1908, Hilma af Klint Foundation, via Arthive\u003c/figcaption\u003e\u003c/figure\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOne of the most confusing aspects of Hilma af Klint’s oeuvre is writing. Or, more precisely, what appears to be writing, perceived as a weird, almost unreadable combination of Latin letters.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAccording to Hilma af Klint’s diaries, these were not exactly letters, but different types of visual symbols, constructing clusters of meanings from several elements. The most important symbols were \u003ci\u003eU\u003c/i\u003e, standing for spirit, and \u003ci\u003eW\u003c/i\u003e, associated with matter. Their combinations also took on different meanings: \u003ci\u003eUW\u003c/i\u003e represented higher spiritual love, and \u003ci\u003eWU\u003c/i\u003e symbolized the concept of sacredness. The letters could be arranged in more complex and multi-faceted forms such as \u003ci\u003eAVONVENER\u003c/i\u003e\u003cb\u003e, \u003c/b\u003ethe word to which Hilma af Klint referred to as the way for higher beings to pass on spiritual knowledge to the Earth.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eReligious Imagery\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_97780\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-97780\" style=\"width: 984px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"\u003e\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-97780\" src=\"https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/hilma-af-klint-dove-painting.jpg\" alt=\"hilma af klint dove painting\" width=\"984\" height=\"1200\" srcset=\"https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/hilma-af-klint-dove-painting.jpg 984w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/hilma-af-klint-dove-painting-246x300.jpg 246w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/hilma-af-klint-dove-painting-840x1024.jpg 840w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/hilma-af-klint-dove-painting-768x937.jpg 768w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/hilma-af-klint-dove-painting-150x183.jpg 150w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/hilma-af-klint-dove-painting-300x366.jpg 300w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/hilma-af-klint-dove-painting-600x732.jpg 600w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/hilma-af-klint-dove-painting-696x849.jpg 696w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/hilma-af-klint-dove-painting-344x420.jpg 344w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/hilma-af-klint-dove-painting-689x840.jpg 689w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 984px) 100vw, 984px\" /\u003e\u003cfigcaption id=\"caption-attachment-97780\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"\u003eThe Dove, No. 9, Series SUW/UW, Group IX/UW by Hilma af Klint, 1915, via Art Blart\u003c/figcaption\u003e\u003c/figure\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHilma af Klint had a profound interest in \u003ca href=\"https://www.thecollector.com/how-did-theosophy-influence-modern-art/\"\u003eTheosophy\u003c/a\u003e, a philosophical system of beliefs that proclaimed the essential unity of all religions. Theosophists paid special attention to Eastern religions like Buddhism and \u003ca href=\"https://www.thecollector.com/hinduism-origins/\"\u003eHinduism\u003c/a\u003e, believing that Western Christianity has discredited itself because of the Church officials’ greed and vanity. Nonetheless, Theosophist imagery often blended symbols borrowed both from the East and the West, with the recurring belief in their mutual complementarity.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHilma af Klint remained a devout Lutheran Catholic throughout her life, yet in her earlier works the influence of Eastern religions is present and obvious. Her early Evolution series included mandalas and lotus blossoms while also experimentally applying the concept of \u003ca href=\"https://www.thecollector.com/charles-darwin-theory-evolution-problems/\"\u003eCharles Darwin’s\u003c/a\u003e evolution to spiritual matters.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAs Hilma af Klint grew older and began to add her own voice to her works, Christian imagery became more persistent. In 1915, she devoted an entire series of paintings to a dove, a Christian symbol of the holy spirit. There, along with perfect circles and zodiac signs, she painted several images of Saint George slaying the dragon.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eColor Symbolism\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_97776\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-97776\" style=\"width: 792px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"\u003e\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-97776\" src=\"https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/besant-thoughforms-chart.jpg\" alt=\"besant thoughforms chart\" width=\"792\" height=\"1200\" srcset=\"https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/besant-thoughforms-chart.jpg 792w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/besant-thoughforms-chart-198x300.jpg 198w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/besant-thoughforms-chart-676x1024.jpg 676w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/besant-thoughforms-chart-768x1164.jpg 768w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/besant-thoughforms-chart-150x227.jpg 150w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/besant-thoughforms-chart-300x455.jpg 300w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/besant-thoughforms-chart-600x909.jpg 600w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/besant-thoughforms-chart-696x1055.jpg 696w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/besant-thoughforms-chart-277x420.jpg 277w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/besant-thoughforms-chart-554x840.jpg 554w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 792px) 100vw, 792px\" /\u003e\u003cfigcaption id=\"caption-attachment-97776\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"\u003eMeanings of Colors by Anie Besant and Charles Leadbeater’s Though-Forms, 1905, via The Guttenberg Project\u003c/figcaption\u003e\u003c/figure\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAttributing certain meanings to colors was hardly a groundbreaking idea for spiritualists like Hilma af Klint. She was almost certainly inspired by the occult literature of her time, like the work of a British spiritualist Anie Besant \u003ci\u003eThought-Forms.\u003c/i\u003e Besant believed that color was the expression of thought and feeling. She also insisted, like most other spiritualists of the time, that the color black symbolized malice and corruption, and advised artists to refrain from its use.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHilma af Klint and her masters had a different opinion about it. Her colors were associated with particular concepts and helped construct a narrative within her works. She never avoided using black, sometimes creating almost monochrome paintings with it.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_97781\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-97781\" style=\"width: 954px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"\u003e\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-97781\" src=\"https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/hilma-af-klint-figure-painting.jpg\" alt=\"hilma af klint figure painting\" width=\"954\" height=\"1200\" srcset=\"https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/hilma-af-klint-figure-painting.jpg 954w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/hilma-af-klint-figure-painting-239x300.jpg 239w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/hilma-af-klint-figure-painting-814x1024.jpg 814w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/hilma-af-klint-figure-painting-768x966.jpg 768w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/hilma-af-klint-figure-painting-150x189.jpg 150w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/hilma-af-klint-figure-painting-300x377.jpg 300w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/hilma-af-klint-figure-painting-600x755.jpg 600w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/hilma-af-klint-figure-painting-696x875.jpg 696w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/hilma-af-klint-figure-painting-334x420.jpg 334w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/hilma-af-klint-figure-painting-668x840.jpg 668w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 954px) 100vw, 954px\" /\u003e\u003cfigcaption id=\"caption-attachment-97781\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"\u003eThe Large Figure Paintings, No. 5 Group 3 by Hilma af Klint, 1907, Hilma af Klint Foundation, via Obelisk Art History\u003c/figcaption\u003e\u003c/figure\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe most important colors for Hilma af Klint were blue and yellow, which signified femininity and masculinity respectively. Blue represented strong nature and spiritual faithfulness, while yellow symbolized knowledge. The spiritual dichotomy of the male and the female was crucial for her, with many of her symbols having a binary opposition to them. Her first abstract series, \u003ci\u003eThe Primordial Chaos\u003c/i\u003e, was painted entirely in blue, yellow, and green. Other colors also had their designated meanings. Hilma af Klint believed that white was t\u003ci\u003ehe holiest of colors,\u003c/i\u003e while brown signified unrest. Light blue represented the belief in truth, and bluish pink represented trust in one’s previous incarnations.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eHilma af Klint and the Language of Flowers\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_97779\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-97779\" style=\"width: 892px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"\u003e\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-97779\" src=\"https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/hilma-af-klint-childhood-painting.jpg\" alt=\"hilma af klint childhood painting\" width=\"892\" height=\"1200\" srcset=\"https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/hilma-af-klint-childhood-painting.jpg 892w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/hilma-af-klint-childhood-painting-223x300.jpg 223w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/hilma-af-klint-childhood-painting-761x1024.jpg 761w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/hilma-af-klint-childhood-painting-768x1033.jpg 768w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/hilma-af-klint-childhood-painting-150x202.jpg 150w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/hilma-af-klint-childhood-painting-300x404.jpg 300w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/hilma-af-klint-childhood-painting-600x807.jpg 600w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/hilma-af-klint-childhood-painting-696x936.jpg 696w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/hilma-af-klint-childhood-painting-312x420.jpg 312w, https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/hilma-af-klint-childhood-painting-624x840.jpg 624w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 892px) 100vw, 892px\" /\u003e\u003cfigcaption id=\"caption-attachment-97779\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"\u003eThe Ten Largest, #1 \u0026#8211; Childhood, by Hilma af Klint, 1907, via Wikimedia Commons\u003c/figcaption\u003e\u003c/figure\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDespite the abstract nature of Hilma af Klint’s works, images of flowers, animals, and humans often appeared in her paintings. This might have been due to her first occupation as a botanical and zoological illustrator. Like blue and yellow, some flowers represented the dichotomy of the feminine and the male. Lily was a feminine flower associated with spiritual perfection and love. Rose, on the other hand, was a male symbol, with its meaning varying according to its color. A pink rose signified spiritual knowledge and devotion, a white one represented unselfishness, while a red rose was its direct opposite, a self-absorbed entity. A lotus stood for the Word of God, and cactus for the sacred Ararat mountain, where Noah’s Ark was allegedly buried.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLater in her life, the artist returned to botanical illustration. Instead of painting flowers with attributed meanings, \u003ca href=\"https://www.thecollector.com/what-to-know-about-hilma-af-klint/\"\u003eHilma af Klint\u003c/a\u003e decided to focus on\u003ci\u003e spiritual portraits\u003c/i\u003e of these plants, diagramming their auras.\u003c/p\u003e\n","slug":"hilma-af-klint-work-recurring-symbols","uri":"/hilma-af-klint-work-recurring-symbols/","featuredImage":{"node":{"sourceUrl":"https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/hilma-af-klint-work-recurring-symbols-768x442.jpg","altText":"hilma af klint work recurring symbols"}},"includeUpdated":{"articleUpdated":null,"includeVideoIcon":null,"includeTableContent":null},"author":{"node":{"name":"Anastasiia S. Kirpalov","userId":324,"firstName":"Anastasiia","lastName":"Sukhareva","nicename":null,"slug":"anastasiia-sukhareva","description":"Anastasiia holds a MA degree in Art history from the University of Groningen, the Netherlands. Previously she worked as a museum assistant, caring for the collection of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist art. She specializes in topics of early abstract art, nineteenth-century gender, spiritualism and occultism. Outside of her work, she is interested in cult studies, criminology, and fashion history.","designation":"MA Art History, Modern \u0026 Contemporary Art ","avatar":{"url":"https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Anastasiia-Sukhareva-author-150x150.jpg"}}},"categories":{"edges":[{"node":{"name":"Artists","slug":"artists"}}]}},{"id":"cG9zdDozNzQ4OQ==","title":"Truths \u0026 Plots: 5 Crucial Fables of Greek Mythology","subtitle":"Set in a world of nymphs, gods, and monsters, the fables of Greek mythology have endured time as much for their fantastic plots as their implicit universal truths.","content":"\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_38419\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-38419\" style=\"width: 1200px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"\u003e\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-38419 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/greek-mythology-fables-ancient-greece.jpg\" alt=\"greek mythology fables ancient greece\" width=\"1200\" height=\"690\" srcset=\"https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/greek-mythology-fables-ancient-greece.jpg 1200w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/greek-mythology-fables-ancient-greece-300x173.jpg 300w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/greek-mythology-fables-ancient-greece-1024x589.jpg 1024w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/greek-mythology-fables-ancient-greece-768x442.jpg 768w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/greek-mythology-fables-ancient-greece-150x86.jpg 150w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/greek-mythology-fables-ancient-greece-600x345.jpg 600w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/greek-mythology-fables-ancient-greece-696x400.jpg 696w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/greek-mythology-fables-ancient-greece-1068x614.jpg 1068w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/greek-mythology-fables-ancient-greece-730x420.jpg 730w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" /\u003e\u003cfigcaption id=\"caption-attachment-38419\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/artifact/echo-and-narcissus\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eEcho and Narcissus,\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e John William Waterhouse\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e, 1903, via Liverpool Museums; with \u003c/span\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eApollo and Daphne\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e, Gianlorenzo Bernini\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e, 1622-24, via Galleria Borghese, Rome\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/figcaption\u003e\u003c/figure\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003ePublius Ovidius Naso, better known as Ovid, was a Roman politician-turned-poet who lived during the early years of the empire. \u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eHis name may not ring a bell, but he’s likely the reason that others, such as Zeus, Apollo, and Aphrodite, do. \u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eIn 8 AD, under the patronage of Caesar Augustus, Ovid published a compilation of over 250 stories from Greek mythology that he called \u003c/span\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://www.thecollector.com/metamorphoses-ovid-tales/\"\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eMetamorphoses\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e. The title aptly means “\u003c/span\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://www.thecollector.com/greek-mythology-stories-transformation/\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003etransformations\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e,” in keeping with the theme of change that’s pervasive throughout its fables.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eIt’s also in keeping with the spirit of the ancient Greek world that \u003c/span\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://www.thecollector.com/plato-philosophy-breakthroughs/\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eSocrates and Plato\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e had inherited from Homer and Pythagoras. One in which the whole universe was alive, intelligent and beneficent, and the human soul was on an endless wheel of transformation — from birth to death to rebirth —\u003c/span\u003e \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003einhabiting a different form in each of its iterations.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eAs Ovid writes in the person of Pythagoras, the 6th century BC philosopher, “all is subject to change and nothing to death.”\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGreek Mythology And Ancient Greece\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_38421\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-38421\" style=\"width: 1207px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"\u003e\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-38421\" src=\"https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/illustration-ancient-athens-golvin.jpg\" alt=\"illustration ancient athens golvin\" width=\"1207\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/illustration-ancient-athens-golvin.jpg 1400w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/illustration-ancient-athens-golvin-300x199.jpg 300w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/illustration-ancient-athens-golvin-1024x679.jpg 1024w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/illustration-ancient-athens-golvin-768x509.jpg 768w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/illustration-ancient-athens-golvin-150x99.jpg 150w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/illustration-ancient-athens-golvin-600x398.jpg 600w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/illustration-ancient-athens-golvin-696x461.jpg 696w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/illustration-ancient-athens-golvin-1392x923.jpg 1392w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/illustration-ancient-athens-golvin-1068x708.jpg 1068w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/illustration-ancient-athens-golvin-634x420.jpg 634w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/illustration-ancient-athens-golvin-1267x840.jpg 1267w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1207px) 100vw, 1207px\" /\u003e\u003cfigcaption id=\"caption-attachment-38421\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://jeanclaudegolvin.com/en/project/greece/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eThe Acropolis of Athens in ancient Greece, Jean-Claude Golvin\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e, via Jean-Claude Golvin\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/figcaption\u003e\u003c/figure\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eMetamorphoses \u003c/span\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003ebegins with a creation myth like so many others: a great flood story. It progresses into an epic, introducing a host of gods, goddesses, nymphs, monsters, and fickle human beings often falling prey to any or all of the aforementioned.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://www.thecollector.com/12-olympians/\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eGreek mythology\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e was meant to instruct and caution. It also sought to explain natural phenomena like the change of seasons or the fixed positions of constellations.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eBut whether or not their deeper meanings are elicited, the ethereal world in which these \u003ca href=\"https://www.thecollector.com/who-was-aesop/\"\u003efables\u003c/a\u003e take place has enchanted listeners and readers for millennia. Here are 5 essential fables from ancient Greece:\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e1. Python\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cblockquote\u003e\n\u003ch4\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e“When heat and moisture are blended, we know that they lead to conception; everything owes its first beginning to these two elements.” Ovid, Python: Book I\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\u003c/h4\u003e\n\u003c/blockquote\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_38416\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-38416\" style=\"width: 1200px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"\u003e\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-38416\" src=\"https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/ancient-greece-delphi-ruins-temple-pythian-oracle.jpg\" alt=\"ancient greece delphi ruins temple pythian oracle\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/ancient-greece-delphi-ruins-temple-pythian-oracle.jpg 1400w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/ancient-greece-delphi-ruins-temple-pythian-oracle-300x200.jpg 300w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/ancient-greece-delphi-ruins-temple-pythian-oracle-1024x682.jpg 1024w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/ancient-greece-delphi-ruins-temple-pythian-oracle-768x512.jpg 768w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/ancient-greece-delphi-ruins-temple-pythian-oracle-150x100.jpg 150w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/ancient-greece-delphi-ruins-temple-pythian-oracle-600x400.jpg 600w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/ancient-greece-delphi-ruins-temple-pythian-oracle-696x464.jpg 696w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/ancient-greece-delphi-ruins-temple-pythian-oracle-1392x928.jpg 1392w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/ancient-greece-delphi-ruins-temple-pythian-oracle-1068x712.jpg 1068w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/ancient-greece-delphi-ruins-temple-pythian-oracle-630x420.jpg 630w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/ancient-greece-delphi-ruins-temple-pythian-oracle-1260x840.jpg 1260w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" /\u003e\u003cfigcaption id=\"caption-attachment-38416\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://brewminate.com/consultation-with-apollos-pythia-at-ancient-delphi/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eRuins at the Temple of the Pythian Oracle,\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e Delphi, via brewminate.com\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/figcaption\u003e\u003c/figure\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eAfter the flood, living beings in a myriad of forms emerged from the heat and moisture of the earth. Among them was a great serpent called python. \u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eThe snake terrorized the people of Parnassus, the mountainous region around Delphi in ancient Greece’s interior. \u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eUnable to defend themselves against it, Apollo, god of sunlight, decided to intervene. He assailed the monstrous beast with 1,000 arrows, penetrating its armored skin. Hissing and writhing, it collapsed and died in a pool of its own black venom.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eTo commemorate the occasion, Apollo established the tradition of the Pythian Games. They became the second most important of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.thecollector.com/what-were-panhellenic-games-ancient-greece/\"\u003ePanhellenic games\u003c/a\u003e, only after the Olympics, and took place biennially until the 4th century AD.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eAccording to Greek Mythology, the dead python was placed under the Temple of Delphi, the heart of ancient Greece. Its rotting corpse was the source of fumes and smoke that would rise from floor grates in the oracle’s chamber.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e2. Daphne\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cblockquote\u003e\n\u003ch4\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e“Her soft white bosom was ringed in a layer of bark, her hair was turned into foliage, her arms into branches.” Ovid, Daphne: Book I\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\u003c/h4\u003e\n\u003c/blockquote\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_38417\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-38417\" style=\"width: 1486px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"\u003e\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-38417 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/bernini-apollo-daphne-greek-mythology-villa-borghese.jpg\" alt=\"bernini apollo daphne greek mythology villa borghese\" width=\"1486\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/bernini-apollo-daphne-greek-mythology-villa-borghese.jpg 1486w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/bernini-apollo-daphne-greek-mythology-villa-borghese-300x162.jpg 300w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/bernini-apollo-daphne-greek-mythology-villa-borghese-1024x551.jpg 1024w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/bernini-apollo-daphne-greek-mythology-villa-borghese-768x413.jpg 768w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/bernini-apollo-daphne-greek-mythology-villa-borghese-150x81.jpg 150w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/bernini-apollo-daphne-greek-mythology-villa-borghese-600x323.jpg 600w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/bernini-apollo-daphne-greek-mythology-villa-borghese-696x375.jpg 696w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/bernini-apollo-daphne-greek-mythology-villa-borghese-1392x749.jpg 1392w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/bernini-apollo-daphne-greek-mythology-villa-borghese-1068x575.jpg 1068w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/bernini-apollo-daphne-greek-mythology-villa-borghese-780x420.jpg 780w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1486px) 100vw, 1486px\" /\u003e\u003cfigcaption id=\"caption-attachment-38417\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eApollo and Daphne\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e, Gianlorenzo Bernini\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e, 1622-24, via Galleria Borghese, Rome\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/figcaption\u003e\u003c/figure\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eEros, better known by his Roman name, Cupid, appeared in the vicinity of Parnassus shortly after Apollo’s victory over the python. The child god, son of Ares and Aphrodite, harnessed his infamous bow with an arrow made of gold and embedded it in the sun god’s chest. \u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eThen he spotted a beautiful water nymph called Daphne, daughter of the River Peneus. He took aim and implanted an arrow of lead into her breasts. \u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eThe golden arrow overwhelmed Apollo with a sudden amorousness. He spotted Daphne and became smitten.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eBut Daphne’s lead one had the opposite effect. She was repulsed by Apollo and fled in an attempt to evade him. \u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eRunning as fast as she could with Apollo trailing behind her, she called out to her father, the river potamos, and asked him to change her form into something less desirable.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eHer wish was granted, and Daphne’s skin was turned to bark. Her arms morphed into branches, and her luscious hair became a bushel of leaves. \u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eSuddenly rooted in place, the lovely Daphne was now a laurel tree.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eBut her dramatic transformation was for nothing because it didn’t stop Apollo from loving her. He caressed her bark and \u003c/span\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://blogs.getty.edu/iris/the-ancient-origins-of-the-flower-crown/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003ecrowned himself with a string of laurels\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e from her branches. He promised that all the future emperors of Rome would do the same.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_38418\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-38418\" style=\"width: 1600px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"\u003e\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-38418 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/floor-mosaic-antioch-apollo-daphne.jpg\" alt=\"floor mosaic antioch apollo daphne\" width=\"1600\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/floor-mosaic-antioch-apollo-daphne.jpg 1600w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/floor-mosaic-antioch-apollo-daphne-300x150.jpg 300w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/floor-mosaic-antioch-apollo-daphne-1024x512.jpg 1024w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/floor-mosaic-antioch-apollo-daphne-768x384.jpg 768w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/floor-mosaic-antioch-apollo-daphne-1536x768.jpg 1536w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/floor-mosaic-antioch-apollo-daphne-150x75.jpg 150w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/floor-mosaic-antioch-apollo-daphne-600x300.jpg 600w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/floor-mosaic-antioch-apollo-daphne-696x348.jpg 696w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/floor-mosaic-antioch-apollo-daphne-1392x696.jpg 1392w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/floor-mosaic-antioch-apollo-daphne-1068x534.jpg 1068w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/floor-mosaic-antioch-apollo-daphne-840x420.jpg 840w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\" /\u003e\u003cfigcaption id=\"caption-attachment-38418\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://artmuseum.princeton.edu/collections/objects/29457\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eMosaic of Apollo and Daphne\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e from a villa in ancient Antioch, Late 3rd century CE, via Princeton University Art Museum\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/figcaption\u003e\u003c/figure\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eSeleucus, one of \u003c/span\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://thecollector.com/alexander-the-great/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" \u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eAlexander the Great\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e’s \u003c/span\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://alexander-the-great.org/wars-of-the-diadochi/wars-of-the-diadochi.php\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003ediadochi\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e, claimed that the events of this fable of Greek mythology actually occurred near Antioch and not Parnassus. Right outside of his capital city, he built a sanctuary dedicated to Apollo and called it Daphne. Its groves of fragrant blossoms and sensuous pleasures became famous as a refuge for lovers. \u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e“If Antioch has been compared to Paris, Daphne may be called its Versailles,” wrote one English classicist, William Smith.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eIn the Common Era, \u003c/span\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://www.thecollector.com/roman-emperor-julian-last-pagan/\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eEmperor Julian\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e would visit the gardens to make sacrifices to Helios. He would remark in his letters about the \u003c/span\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/205177\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003enaiad’s\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e tree still standing amongst the luxuriant groves.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e3. Phaëthon\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cblockquote\u003e\n\u003ch4\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e“Picture the Sun’s royal seat, an imposing building with towering columns, resplendent in glittering gold and blazing bronze.” Ovid, Phatheon: Book II\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\u003c/h4\u003e\n\u003c/blockquote\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_38420\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-38420\" style=\"width: 1065px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"\u003e\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-38420\" src=\"https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/helios-chariot-budapest-thermal-bath.jpg\" alt=\"helios chariot budapest thermal bath\" width=\"1065\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/helios-chariot-budapest-thermal-bath.jpg 1438w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/helios-chariot-budapest-thermal-bath-300x225.jpg 300w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/helios-chariot-budapest-thermal-bath-1024x769.jpg 1024w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/helios-chariot-budapest-thermal-bath-768x577.jpg 768w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/helios-chariot-budapest-thermal-bath-150x113.jpg 150w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/helios-chariot-budapest-thermal-bath-600x451.jpg 600w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/helios-chariot-budapest-thermal-bath-696x523.jpg 696w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/helios-chariot-budapest-thermal-bath-1392x1045.jpg 1392w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/helios-chariot-budapest-thermal-bath-1068x802.jpg 1068w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/helios-chariot-budapest-thermal-bath-559x420.jpg 559w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/helios-chariot-budapest-thermal-bath-1118x840.jpg 1118w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/helios-chariot-budapest-thermal-bath-80x60.jpg 80w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/helios-chariot-budapest-thermal-bath-160x120.jpg 160w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/helios-chariot-budapest-thermal-bath-265x198.jpg 265w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/helios-chariot-budapest-thermal-bath-853x640.jpg 853w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1065px) 100vw, 1065px\" /\u003e\u003cfigcaption id=\"caption-attachment-38420\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"\u003eHelios, Széchenyi Thermal Bath, Budapest, via Wikimedia Commons\u003c/figcaption\u003e\u003c/figure\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eIn Greek Mythology, Pha\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eë\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003ethon is told by his mother, Clymene, an \u003c/span\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://pantheon.org/articles/o/oceanid.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eOceanid\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e, that his father is the sun god Helios. But still having doubts, the boy decides to visit the sun’s palace and ask for confirmation.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eHelios warmly welcomes Pha\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eë\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003ethon and confirms that he is, in fact, the boy’s father. But this wasn’t enough for him: Pha\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eë\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003ethon requested that he be allowed to test ride his father’s chariot as a gift — the same chariot that Helios would ride into the sky every morning at dawn to fill the world with light for the day.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eHelios acquiesced to his son’s demands, but immediately regretted doing so. He remembered how difficult it was to maneuver the chariot and begged Pha\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eë\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003ethon to reconsider.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eBut the boy was headstrong, and Helios had sworn by the Stygian marsh to never break an oath. For if an oath made by the sacred convergence of the River Styx were broken, the oath breaker would face something worse than death.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eSo Pha\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eë\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003ethon mounted his father’s chariot forged of gold and silver by Vulcan, the god of fire. And at the hour of dawn, he cracked the reins of its four horses.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eSadly, it was over before it began. The horses were ungovernable: Fiery, Dawnsteed, Scorcher, and Blaze took off in different directions, dragging Pha\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eë\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003ethon and the sun on a rollercoaster ride across the sky.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_38424\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-38424\" style=\"width: 1302px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"\u003e\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-38424\" src=\"https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/phaethon-fall-hermitage-museum-sarcophagus.jpg\" alt=\"phaethon fall hermitage museum sarcophagus\" width=\"1302\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/phaethon-fall-hermitage-museum-sarcophagus.jpg 1400w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/phaethon-fall-hermitage-museum-sarcophagus-300x184.jpg 300w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/phaethon-fall-hermitage-museum-sarcophagus-1024x629.jpg 1024w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/phaethon-fall-hermitage-museum-sarcophagus-768x472.jpg 768w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/phaethon-fall-hermitage-museum-sarcophagus-150x92.jpg 150w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/phaethon-fall-hermitage-museum-sarcophagus-600x369.jpg 600w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/phaethon-fall-hermitage-museum-sarcophagus-696x428.jpg 696w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/phaethon-fall-hermitage-museum-sarcophagus-1392x855.jpg 1392w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/phaethon-fall-hermitage-museum-sarcophagus-1068x656.jpg 1068w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/phaethon-fall-hermitage-museum-sarcophagus-684x420.jpg 684w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/phaethon-fall-hermitage-museum-sarcophagus-1367x840.jpg 1367w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/phaethon-fall-hermitage-museum-sarcophagus-356x220.jpg 356w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1302px) 100vw, 1302px\" /\u003e\u003cfigcaption id=\"caption-attachment-38424\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://www.hermitagemuseum.org/wps/portal/hermitage/digital-collection/06.+Sculpture/975476/?lng=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eThe Fall of Pha\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eë\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003ethon on a sarcophagus\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e, 2nd Century AD, via The Hermitage Museum\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/figcaption\u003e\u003c/figure\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eThe world below was set ablaze in an epic conflagration. And it became so intense that Gaia, the earth mother, called on \u003c/span\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://www.thecollector.com/zeus/\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eZeus \u003c/span\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eto intervene. \u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eThe king of the gods wielded a thunderbolt and hurled it into Pha\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eë\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003ethon, striking him down from the chariot. The boy fell from the sky and landed in the Eridanos River, thought to be somewhere in Central Europe in ancient times.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eMourning his son’s death, Helios went into an eclipse; the whole world was cast in darkness. \u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003ePha\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eë\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003ethon’s sisters wept for months until one day, in their sorrow, they transformed into trees and their tears turned to sap.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eHelios was livid with Zeus and announced that he’d no longer drive the chariot of the sun. But at a council of the gods, he was coerced into reconsidering. And so the sun finally came out of the eclipse, and it continues to rise each morning.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eWhile there can be many different interpretations of fables in Greek mythology, \u003c/span\u003e\u003ca href=\"http://blogs.getty.edu/iris/a-non-philosophers-guide-to-plato/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003ePlato\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e conjectured that Pha\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eë\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003ethon represents major celestial disturbances that inevitably impact the earth “after long intervals.” He also noted that Pha\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eë\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003ethon’s mother, a water nymph, and his father, a fire god, are symbolic of the two elements that most often lead to human destruction.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e4. Callisto\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cblockquote\u003e\n\u003ch4\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e“But though her body was now a bear’s, her emotions were human.” Ovid, Callisto: Book II\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\u003c/h4\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/blockquote\u003e\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_38425\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-38425\" style=\"width: 1280px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"\u003e\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-38425 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/thomas-cole-arcadian-state-greek-mythology-painting.jpg\" alt=\"thomas cole arcadian state greek mythology painting\" width=\"1280\" height=\"798\" srcset=\"https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/thomas-cole-arcadian-state-greek-mythology-painting.jpg 1280w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/thomas-cole-arcadian-state-greek-mythology-painting-300x187.jpg 300w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/thomas-cole-arcadian-state-greek-mythology-painting-1024x638.jpg 1024w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/thomas-cole-arcadian-state-greek-mythology-painting-768x479.jpg 768w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/thomas-cole-arcadian-state-greek-mythology-painting-150x94.jpg 150w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/thomas-cole-arcadian-state-greek-mythology-painting-600x374.jpg 600w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/thomas-cole-arcadian-state-greek-mythology-painting-696x434.jpg 696w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/thomas-cole-arcadian-state-greek-mythology-painting-1068x666.jpg 1068w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/thomas-cole-arcadian-state-greek-mythology-painting-674x420.jpg 674w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1280px) 100vw, 1280px\" /\u003e\u003cfigcaption id=\"caption-attachment-38425\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://www.nyhistory.org/exhibit/course-empire-arcadian-or-pastoral-state-0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eThe Course of Empire: The Arcadian State\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e, Thomas Cole\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e, 1858, via The New-York Historical Society Museum \u0026amp; Library\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/figcaption\u003e\u003c/figure\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eAccording to another fable from Greek Mythology, there was once a beautiful \u003c/span\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://britannica.com/place/Arcadia-region-Greece\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eArcadian\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e virgin named Callisto. She was the favorite disciple of Artemis, the chaste goddess of the moon, and together with other virginal maidens, they formed a contingent of huntresses.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eZeus happened to spot her alone in the woods while he was in one of his philandering moods. So he descended into Arcadia in ancient Greece disguised in the form of Artemis. \u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eIn this way, he tricked the unsuspecting Callisto into kissing him and then proceeded to rape her.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eWhen the real Artemis and her virgin huntresses discovered that Callisto had become pregnant, they disowned her from their community. \u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eTo add insult to injury, Zeus’s wife Hera decided to take revenge on her for Zeus’s actions.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eAfter Callisto gave birth to her son, Arcas, Hera turned her into a bear and cursed her to roam the forests of Arcadia in that form while retaining her human thoughts and emotions.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_38426\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-38426\" style=\"width: 1280px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"\u003e\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-38426 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/ursa-major-ursa-minor-constellations.jpg\" alt=\"ursa major ursa minor constellations\" width=\"1280\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/ursa-major-ursa-minor-constellations.jpg 1280w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/ursa-major-ursa-minor-constellations-300x188.jpg 300w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/ursa-major-ursa-minor-constellations-1024x640.jpg 1024w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/ursa-major-ursa-minor-constellations-768x480.jpg 768w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/ursa-major-ursa-minor-constellations-150x94.jpg 150w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/ursa-major-ursa-minor-constellations-600x375.jpg 600w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/ursa-major-ursa-minor-constellations-696x435.jpg 696w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/ursa-major-ursa-minor-constellations-1068x668.jpg 1068w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/ursa-major-ursa-minor-constellations-672x420.jpg 672w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1280px) 100vw, 1280px\" /\u003e\u003cfigcaption id=\"caption-attachment-38426\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eDigitally enhanced photograph of \u003c/span\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://www.wvspacegrant.org/about/wvsgc/big-and-little-dippers-ursa-major-and-ursa-minor/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eUrsa Major and Ursa Minor\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e, via NASA West Virginia Space Grant Consortium\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/figcaption\u003e\u003c/figure\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eFifteen years passed, and Arcas, now an adolescent, was hunting in the woods when he came upon a bear. Callisto could recognize her son, even though she hadn’t seen him since his birth. But, of course, he couldn’t recognize his mother.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eMoments from piercing her with the sharp of his javelin, Zeus decided to intervene. Feeling some remorse for his actions, he couldn’t let his son kill the mother of his child.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eSo in a flash, he turned Arcas into a bear, and transported both him and Callisto into the heavens. He installed them as constellations in the night sky, \u003c/span\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://baringtheaegis.blogspot.com/2015/05/constellations-ursa-major-ursa-minor.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eUrsa Major and Ursa Minor\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e, where they would be admired by humans for all time.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e5. Narcissus \u0026amp; Echo\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cblockquote\u003e\n\u003ch4\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e“His being was suddenly overwhelmed by a vision of beauty. He gazed at himself in amazement.” Ovid, Narcissus \u0026amp; Echo: Book III\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\u003c/h4\u003e\n\u003c/blockquote\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_38423\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-38423\" style=\"width: 1402px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"\u003e\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-38423\" src=\"https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/painting-echo-narcissus-statue-marble-getty-liverpool.jpg\" alt=\"painting echo narcissus statue marble getty liverpool\" width=\"1402\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/painting-echo-narcissus-statue-marble-getty-liverpool.jpg 1500w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/painting-echo-narcissus-statue-marble-getty-liverpool-300x171.jpg 300w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/painting-echo-narcissus-statue-marble-getty-liverpool-1024x584.jpg 1024w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/painting-echo-narcissus-statue-marble-getty-liverpool-768x438.jpg 768w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/painting-echo-narcissus-statue-marble-getty-liverpool-150x86.jpg 150w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/painting-echo-narcissus-statue-marble-getty-liverpool-600x342.jpg 600w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/painting-echo-narcissus-statue-marble-getty-liverpool-696x397.jpg 696w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/painting-echo-narcissus-statue-marble-getty-liverpool-1392x794.jpg 1392w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/painting-echo-narcissus-statue-marble-getty-liverpool-1068x609.jpg 1068w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/painting-echo-narcissus-statue-marble-getty-liverpool-736x420.jpg 736w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/painting-echo-narcissus-statue-marble-getty-liverpool-1472x840.jpg 1472w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1402px) 100vw, 1402px\" /\u003e\u003cfigcaption id=\"caption-attachment-38423\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/artifact/echo-and-narcissus\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eEcho and Narcissus,\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e John William Waterhouse\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e, 1903, via Liverpool Museum; with Statue of so-called \u003c/span\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://www.getty.edu/art/collection/objects/7116/unknown-maker-statue-of-a-youth-so-called-narcissus-roman-2nd-century-ad/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" \u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e“Narcissus,”\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e 2nd century AD, via The Getty Museum\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/figcaption\u003e\u003c/figure\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eThis last fable is one of the most well-known in Greek mythology. It takes us to Boeotia, an inland region of ancient Greece that lies just northwest of Attica.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://www.thecollector.com/echo-narcissus-myth/\"\u003eNarcissus\u003c/a\u003e, an extremely attractive adolescent, is the son of Cephisus, a river god, and Liriope, a water nymph. When he was a baby, an oracle advised Liriope that he would live to a ripe old age “so long as he never knows himself.” \u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eSo for sixteen years, blissfully ignorant of his beauty, he evaded the desires of his admirers. Then he was discovered by \u003ca href=\"https://www.thecollector.com/echo-narcissus-myth/\"\u003eEcho\u003c/a\u003e, a nymph who was cursed to only repeat the last few words of others and never speak for herself.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eShe lusted after the boy and covertly followed him on one of his hunts in the forest. But he could feel her presence and called out, “is anyone there?”\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e“One there?” She replied. \u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eNarcissus was startled. \u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e“We must come together!” he called out to his hidden companion.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eSo Echo jumped at him from her hiding place and frightened him into a rage. Narcissus cursed the wretched nymph, and she fled in embarrassment. She went to hide in gloomy caves where she still resides in her shame.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eHer skin melted away and she was left with just bones and voice. Then her bones disintegrated and she became only voice and stone.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_38422\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-38422\" style=\"width: 1280px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"\u003e\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-38422 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/narcissus-echo-artists-interpretation.jpg\" alt=\"narcissus echo artists interpretation\" width=\"1280\" height=\"615\" srcset=\"https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/narcissus-echo-artists-interpretation.jpg 1280w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/narcissus-echo-artists-interpretation-300x144.jpg 300w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/narcissus-echo-artists-interpretation-1024x492.jpg 1024w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/narcissus-echo-artists-interpretation-768x369.jpg 768w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/narcissus-echo-artists-interpretation-150x72.jpg 150w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/narcissus-echo-artists-interpretation-600x288.jpg 600w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/narcissus-echo-artists-interpretation-696x334.jpg 696w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/narcissus-echo-artists-interpretation-1068x513.jpg 1068w, https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/narcissus-echo-artists-interpretation-874x420.jpg 874w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1280px) 100vw, 1280px\" /\u003e\u003cfigcaption id=\"caption-attachment-38422\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"http://www.richardbaxterartist.com/myportfolio/classic-period/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eNarcissus and Echo\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e, Richard Baxter\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e, via Richard Baxter\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/figcaption\u003e\u003c/figure\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eNarcissus went on like this, mocking those who tried to love him. Until one day a nymph invoked the gods to curse the boy for his mean-spiritedness. \u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eThat day he came upon a silvery pool and fell in love with what reflected back at him.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e“Stretched on the grass, he saw twin stars, his own two eyes, rippling curls like the locks of a god, Apollo or \u003c/span\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://www.thecollector.com/dionysus-bacchus-god/\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eBacchus\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e, cheeks as smooth as silk, an ivory neck and a glorious face with a mixture of blushing red and creamy whiteness.”\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eHe tried to kiss his reflection, but the water would ripple and distort the figure on the other side. He called out to the trees and the gods, screaming in agony about his heartache. The tears rolling off his face obscured the boy on the other side.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eNarcissus’s pain became too unbearable. He rested his head on the grass nearby the pool and died. \u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eHis corpse was burned in Hades, the \u003c/span\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://www.thecollector.com/evil-gods-underworld/\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eUnderworld \u003c/span\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eof Greek Mythology, and from its ashes sprang a singular flower with a golden trumpet and pale white petals.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eWhile Greek mythology isn’t always straightforward, the message is quite clear in this case: don’t be a narcissist.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n","slug":"greek-mythology-5-essential-fables-ancient-greece","uri":"/greek-mythology-5-essential-fables-ancient-greece/","featuredImage":{"node":{"sourceUrl":"https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/greek-mythology-fables-ancient-greece-768x442.jpg","altText":"greek mythology fables ancient greece"}},"includeUpdated":{"articleUpdated":null,"includeVideoIcon":null,"includeTableContent":null},"author":{"node":{"name":"Michael Arnold","userId":88,"firstName":"Michael","lastName":"Arnold","nicename":null,"slug":"michael-arnold","description":"Michael is a contributing writer and former world traveler whose hometown is New York City. He spent the majority of 2019 exploring Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa. And currently, he’s studying for a masters degree in Ancient Mediterranean Archaeology at the University of Pavia in Italy. In his spare time, Michael enjoys researching and writing about art, history, and archaeology with a focus on the ancient world.","designation":"BA Art History, MA Ancient Mediterranean Archaeology","avatar":{"url":"https://wp.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Michael-Arnold-author.jpg"}}},"categories":{"edges":[{"node":{"name":"Ancient History","slug":"ancient-history"}},{"node":{"name":"Mythology","slug":"mythology"}}]}}],"authorPosts":{"edges":[{"node":{"title":"7 Photographs by Nan Goldin That You Need to See","slug":"nan-goldin-photographs","featuredImage":{"node":{"sourceUrl":"https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/nan-goldin-list-photographs-768x442.jpg","caption":"\u003cp\u003enan goldin list photographs\u003c/p\u003e\n","altText":"nan goldin list photographs"}},"author":{"node":{"name":"Stefanie Graf","slug":"stefanie-graf"}},"categories":{"edges":[{"node":{"name":"Art","slug":"art"}},{"node":{"name":"Artists","slug":"artists"}},{"node":{"name":"Modern \u0026 Contemporary Art","slug":"modern-contemporary-art"}}]}}},{"node":{"title":"Rhythm 0: A Scandalous Performance by Marina Abramović","slug":"rhythm-0-by-marina-abramovic","featuredImage":{"node":{"sourceUrl":"https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/marina-abramovic-rhythm-0-featured-768x442.jpg","caption":"\u003cp\u003emarina abramovic rhythm 0 featured\u003c/p\u003e\n","altText":"marina abramovic rhythm 0 featured"}},"author":{"node":{"name":"Stefanie Graf","slug":"stefanie-graf"}},"categories":{"edges":[{"node":{"name":"Art","slug":"art"}}]}}}]},"categoryPosts":{"edges":[{"node":{"title":"Get to Know Tamara de Lempicka Through 8 Works","slug":"tamara-de-lempicka-works","featuredImage":{"node":{"sourceUrl":"https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/tamara-de-lempicka-through-works-768x442.jpg","caption":"\u003cp\u003etamara de lempicka through works\u003c/p\u003e\n","altText":"tamara de lempicka through works"}},"author":{"node":{"name":"Anastasiia S. Kirpalov","slug":"anastasiia-sukhareva"}},"categories":{"edges":[{"node":{"name":"Artists","slug":"artists"}}]}}},{"node":{"title":"8 Facts About Tamara de Lempicka’s Dark Glamour","slug":"tamara-de-lempicka-dark-glamour","featuredImage":{"node":{"sourceUrl":"https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/tamara-de-lempicka-dark-glamour-768x442.jpg","caption":"\u003cp\u003etamara de lempicka dark glamour\u003c/p\u003e\n","altText":"tamara de lempicka dark glamour"}},"author":{"node":{"name":"Anastasiia S. Kirpalov","slug":"anastasiia-sukhareva"}},"categories":{"edges":[{"node":{"name":"Artists","slug":"artists"}}]}}}]},"createdAt":1731656821151},"__N_SSG":true},"page":"/[slug]","query":{"slug":"how-occultism-spiritualism-inspired-hilma-af-klint-paintings"},"buildId":"uaOBH9zgDUidIOohZ_CnF","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[93123],"gsp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}</script></body></html>