Simon

Hilma af Klint remained largely unknown for decades, likely due to her deep-seated ties to spiritualism and the occult. Her journey into the spiritual realm intensified in 1880 following the death of her younger sister, Hermina. This loss shifted her focus toward the unseen, and soon, abstraction and symbolism began to dominate her canvases. Drawn to the Theosophy of Madame Blavatsky and the Rosicrucian philosophy, she became a member of "The Five"—a group of women dedicated to contacting "High Masters" through séances. Their meetings were highly ritualistic, beginning with prayer and meditation followed by a sermon and an analysis of the New Testament. It was in this transcendental environment that Hilma claimed to receive a divine commission from an angel named Amaliel, who instructed her to create her most famous body of work: the Paintings for the Temple. Working with "The Five," Hilma produced geometric drawings that sought to conceptualize the invis...