Hilma af Klint is recognised as one of Europe’s foremost abstract painters, and her work is currently on exhibition at The National Gallery of Ireland.
Hilma changed the boundaries of art history, creating a new concept in abstract form over a century ago. Imagine a time where women’s creative freedom was massively limited; this is where Hilma created art that spoke to her beliefs, using craft as a spiritual medium. She is now one of Sweden’s most celebrated artists, but at the time of her artistic journey, no one, other than her close friends, had ever seen much of her now famous work. She is so influential in abstract art that her work predates the abstract as an artistic form.
Af Klint created through spiritual experience and trance-like states, with a group of five women known as ‘The Five’ between 1896 and 1908. There, they communicated with mystic beings. The messages they received were turned into drawings, paintings and writing. Even if you aren’t a believer in a higher force, it is quite incredible that Af Kint’s art maps what cannot be seen. Instead, her work is energy and transformation.
She created an art form that communicates that which cannot be understood through language alone.
Her work is geometric, but not in a decorative sense. Instead, she mapped the unseen. Bringing life to plants, shapes and nature:
‘Every time I succeed in finishing one of my sketches, my understanding of humanity, animals, plants, minerals, or the entire creation, becomes clearer. I feel freed and raised up above my limited consciousness.’
Hilma af Klint
Her income was through conventional art, selling portraiture and illustrations. Yet she instructed that her spiritual paintings, known as ‘The Great Work ’, were not to be shown to the public until twenty years after her death, believing that her generation of audience would not understand the ‘message for humanity’ within the art. This led to the vast majority of her collection being kept in storage until 1980, containing her greatest collections such as The Swan (1914–15) and Altarpieces (1915)
Af Klint’s art was profoundly informed by spirituality and her explorations of Rosicrucianism, Theosophy, and Anthroposophy. Inspired by nature, science and religion, she developed a visionary abstract painting style, highly charged emotionally, spiritually and chromatically. She is a pioneer of modern contemporary art and the environmental humanities, long before the term was created. It is quite remarkable that Af Klint’s work speaks to humanity's relationship with nature in a time where the understanding of the inhuman was that of dominance. We can look to her work as we continue to expand our understanding of environmentalism, ecology and anthropology.
The exhibition, Hilma af Klint: Artist and Visionary, is curated by Janet McLean, Curator of Modern Art at The National Gallery of Ireland, in collaboration with the Hilma Af Klint Foundation. Featuring paintings, drawings and watercolours, marking the first major exhibition dedicated to the artist’s work in Ireland.
The exhibition's residency is located in the Lower Beit Wing, Rooms 6 – 10, at the National Gallery of Ireland and spans from the 15th of October 2026 until the 7th of February 2027. So you have plenty of time to experience Af Klint’s view of nature and spirit.
Maybe Af Klint’s ‘message for humanity’ was meant for your eyes.
Tickets from €0 - €16
Presented by Key Capital at 25. Funded as part of the Culture Programme for Ireland’s Presidency of the Council of the European Union 2026.
