Thank you for sharing this absorbingly interesting lecture, How grateful we must be that Steiner did not answer her letter, what a huge loss to the art world that would have been!
A powerful and deeply moving lecture regarding an artist of sublime brilliance and phenomenal import. How I would love to meditate upon these paintings in person, in the temple that will enshrine and display her work. Thank you & Blessings!
You don‘t quite seam to know very much about Rudolf Steiner, otherwise you wouldn‘t have said that her works got rejected by him and the anthroposophical society because it was difficult at that time for a woman. Most artist who worked for Rudolf Steiner for example to paint the sealing of the Goetheanum were female artists. Rudolf Steiner held women in high esteem already in his early years and you can find it in one of his first works „Philosophie der Freiheit“. I can understand that he was very critical about art that has been made in an unconscious state of mind. In Anthroposophy everything has to be deeply meaningful and made out of a free state of mind without the lead of some spiritual beings. How would you know if they actually have good or bad intentions? This is a no-go in Anthroposophy. Still some of her works are very inspiring. Thanks a lot for sharing!
Dear Gertrude, I am writing a scientific article about Hilma and her talk came to the subject that I intend to address. Since I had contact with Hilma's work in the exhibition Possible Worlds I was immediately enchanted. If you read my message and have more suggestions of research material, especially about this disturbing relationship with Steiner, I will be immensely grateful.
AT 24:15 I cant understand the name of the artist? munk? monk? she explaining the painting and the spirit said you couldn sense the spirits through finely tuned nerve threads. It goes on explaining the hair is transformed into waves connecting to the sad boy on the left who has a pain in his heart. Ok. did anyone else thing 'string theory'
I was familiar with her work as a student 1972. I would also say that occult mumbo-jumbo has been around for a very very long time but it doesn’t make her the inventor of abstraction. symbolic logic is the basis of abstraction and responsible for the language I’m using right now in addition to many many other forms
Maybe if you found a good book about her from a library (or buy one, there are some available). And if the one where you live does not have one then you could try an interlibrary loan.
Thank you so much for sharing this lecture! Super fascinating. I am so happy I very soon will see Hilma af Klint`s paintings in an exhibition. I was thinking I would never get the chance to see them in real life, and now it soon will happen!! : ) I wonder so much if she mixed her own colours/oil painting? How did she achieve the colours she used? Maybe I will find the answers in the book that follows the exhibition or in other books about her. Luckily she did not get any answer from the stupid Steiner about destroying her work and paintings!
+43110s I believe that Dr Steiner told HafK that the world would not be ready for her work for another 50 years. This implies that he understood very clearly the value and uniqueness of her work. Quite the opposite from your assumption.
I do not know what Steiner was thinking. But according to the book "Hilma af Klint - A Pioneer of Abstraction" 2013, (ed.) Iris Muller-Westermann, p.50 it says: "After her mother`s death in 1920, Hilma af Klint began traveling to Dornach on regualar basis, spending many months there over the ensuing years. She attended Rudolf Steiner`s lectures and tried to get him interested in her paintings, but without succcess. For Steiner the goal of anthroposophy was to observe man in his relationship to the supernatural. Anthroposphy was for him not just a theory but also a method for conducting independent research into the supernatural world. Inspired by his view, Hilma af Klint gave up her geometric abstractions and began describing spiritual contexts directly through watercolors, as in the series On the Viewing of Flowers and Trees, 1922 (...). " For me it does not seen plausible that Steiner understood the value of her work. But I do not know what was in his head. I might very well be wrong. And it does not matter so much. Hilma af Klint`s wonderful paintings were not destroyed. Her art was saved.
In the book that accompanies the recent exhibition of Hilma af Klint's work at the Serpentine Galleries, ( Hilma af Klint. Painting the Unseen ) it is mentioned on p.11 : "After completing the 'Evolution' paintings in 1908, af Klint met her mentor Rudolf Steiner - a theosophist and later founder of another esoteric spiritual movement, Anthroposophy. Steiner's faith in and emphasis on introspection perhaps influenced af Klint away from her previous automatic techniques, leading her to paint more considered, deliberate personal interpretations when she returned to painting several years later." This echoes your comments above. Does it not imply that Steiner encouraged af Klint to approach her work from then on in a more conscious way ? Surely a perceptive and positive intention by him and very challenging for her. As you say, we may not know the exact situation. Suffice that her impressive body of work is a real pleasure to experience; the Serpentine exhibition was great !
Thank you very much for your reply, and for citing the book following the exhibition at the Serpentine Galleries. Very interesting, indeed. Still, I cannot find anything in the literature about Hilma af Klint and her meeting(s) with Rudolph Steiner that implies that he really did encourage her creations of paintings. But I find that she was inspired by his lectures and literature about theosophy and anthroposophy. By this, I mean, that I do not think that Steiner personally encouraged Hilma af Klint to change her approach to her paintings, because he was not interested in her art and he also was sceptical about her mediumstically paintings. When they first met in 1908, Steiner expressed when visiting her studio, that he was sceptical about her working as a medium, and claims her paintings will not be understood in another 50 years. "Hilma af Klint - A Pioneer of Abstraction" 2013, p. 42. Steiner did not like abstract art. He rejected abstraction and criticized the disappearance of figurative, p. 123. Hilma af Klint changes her apporach to painting after this meeting. And yes, most probably influenced by Steiner, she starts to paint more conscious, not only as a medium. But she took her own path, not blindly following the view of Steiner regarding religion and philospohy, p. 128. After many years, in 1920, they meet again, and Hilma tries to get Steiner interested in her paintings, but without success, p. 50. I think that if Steiner encouraged her in creating her art, he would have shown some interest in her paintings in 1920. But he didn`t. Anyway, I am glad that you got the opportunity to see the exhibition at the Serpentine Galleries! And that you liked the art. Amazing paintings, indeed. And I do not want to argue with you! : ) I just do not see it the way you see it. We interpret the available literature in different ways.
Thank you, you have been very diligent in your research about af Klint re. Steiner. We have no argument here, only a sharing of views and a wish to know more deeply. I shall certainly try to have a look at the book you mention "Hilma af Klint - A Pioneer of Abstraction". Am I right in thinking that this was the one that accompanied the Stockholm exhibition.
If you want to explain what Hilma expresses, please study more about the theosophy and anthroposophy and don’t put everything in your thinking box. Steiner had his own view of art and he was an artist himself. Why should he have changed his point of view only because she is a talented female artist?
Thankyou Gertrude for presenting the Artist of Hilma Klint, A Swedish ♀️ Woman Artist 🎨🖌️🛡️🖼️🌐
Thank you for sharing this absorbingly interesting lecture, How grateful we must be that Steiner did not answer her letter, what a huge loss to the art world that would have been!
Thank you very much for this interesting lecture. I learnt many new things related to Hilma and her amazing work
Superb lecture!! Amazing artist!!
Thank you for this wonderful lecture.
Thank you! Amazing paintings!! She is my new inspiration and I understand her messages.
A powerful and deeply moving lecture regarding an artist of sublime brilliance and phenomenal import. How I would love to meditate upon these paintings in person, in the temple that will enshrine and display her work.
Thank you & Blessings!
Thank you for this. I felt like Hilma was talking to me!
fantastique and wonderfull and very good lecture ! Thank you !
You don‘t quite seam to know very much about Rudolf Steiner, otherwise you wouldn‘t have said that her works got rejected by him and the anthroposophical society because it was difficult at that time for a woman. Most artist who worked for Rudolf Steiner for example to paint the sealing of the Goetheanum were female artists. Rudolf Steiner held women in high esteem already in his early years and you can find it in one of his first works „Philosophie der Freiheit“. I can understand that he was very critical about art that has been made in an unconscious state of mind. In Anthroposophy everything has to be deeply meaningful and made out of a free state of mind without the lead of some spiritual beings. How would you know if they actually have good or bad intentions? This is a no-go in Anthroposophy. Still some of her works are very inspiring. Thanks a lot for sharing!
This lecture makes me very emotional. Imagine her work stuck in a basement.
Excellent insight on spirit art
Fascinating lecture! Thank you so much for sharing.
What a great genius! And what a great pity and shame that there isn't any museum for her works, that would be impressive!
Bingo, nailed the spiritual/religious evolution into art as a mode of divine communion/inspiration. Very insightful and relevant lecture.
Gracias totales
my right ear loves this lecture
A great artist. Thank you for this presentation. Perhaps we can look forward to a book in English of her paintings, her thinking, and her life.
simply superb !
I pray to see the temple constructed in our lifetime.
The world finally has Hilda's work. Now, what can we learn from it?
Wonderful! Thank you
Great lecture!
Dear Gertrude, I am writing a scientific article about Hilma and her talk came to the subject that I intend to address. Since I had contact with Hilma's work in the exhibition Possible Worlds I was immediately enchanted. If you read my message and have more suggestions of research material, especially about this disturbing relationship with Steiner, I will be immensely grateful.
Really great, thank you!
Gertrude , you are genius
extraordinary and very inspiring
AT 24:15 I cant understand the name of the artist? munk? monk? she explaining the painting and the spirit said you couldn sense the spirits through finely tuned nerve threads. It goes on explaining the hair is transformed into waves connecting to the sad boy on the left who has a pain in his heart. Ok. did anyone else thing 'string theory'
Edward Munch
thank you!
I was familiar with her work as a student 1972. I would also say that occult mumbo-jumbo has been around for a very very long time but it doesn’t make her the inventor of abstraction. symbolic logic is the basis of abstraction and responsible for the language I’m using right now in addition to many many other forms
Pagans still sing vowels in ceremony and when trancing. Ancient and still used today.
Hilma Klint is amazing!
I have searched in internet about her group of "the five", but I have found nothing. Does anybody know who were the other 4?
Maybe if you found a good book about her from a library (or buy one, there are some available). And if the one where you live does not have one then you could try an interlibrary loan.
Yes, Anna Cassel, Mathilda Nilsson, Sigrid Hedman and Cornelia Cederberg
Who is the Swedish author that first wrote about her? (Minute 8 . Can't decipher it.)
I think is Åke Fant
@@danielauuribe Thank you, that is correct.
thank you
Thank you so much for sharing this lecture! Super fascinating. I am so happy I very soon will see Hilma af Klint`s paintings in an exhibition. I was thinking I would never get the chance to see them in real life, and now it soon will happen!! : ) I wonder so much if she mixed her own colours/oil painting? How did she achieve the colours she used? Maybe I will find the answers in the book that follows the exhibition or in other books about her. Luckily she did not get any answer from the stupid Steiner about destroying her work and paintings!
+43110s I believe that Dr Steiner told HafK that the world would not be ready for her work for another 50 years. This implies that he understood very clearly the value and uniqueness of her work. Quite the opposite from your assumption.
I do not know what Steiner was thinking. But according to the book "Hilma af Klint - A Pioneer of Abstraction" 2013, (ed.) Iris Muller-Westermann, p.50 it says: "After her mother`s death in 1920, Hilma af Klint began traveling to Dornach on regualar basis, spending many months there over the ensuing years. She attended Rudolf Steiner`s lectures and tried to get him interested in her paintings, but without succcess. For Steiner the goal of anthroposophy was to observe man in his relationship to the supernatural. Anthroposphy was for him not just a theory but also a method for conducting independent research into the supernatural world. Inspired by his view, Hilma af Klint gave up her geometric abstractions and began describing spiritual contexts directly through watercolors, as in the series On the Viewing of Flowers and Trees, 1922 (...). " For me it does not seen plausible that Steiner understood the value of her work. But I do not know what was in his head. I might very well be wrong. And it does not matter so much. Hilma af Klint`s wonderful paintings were not destroyed. Her art was saved.
In the book that accompanies the recent exhibition of Hilma af Klint's work at the Serpentine Galleries,
( Hilma af Klint. Painting the Unseen ) it is mentioned on p.11 : "After completing the 'Evolution' paintings in 1908, af Klint met her mentor Rudolf Steiner - a theosophist and later founder of another esoteric spiritual movement, Anthroposophy. Steiner's faith in and emphasis on introspection perhaps influenced af Klint away from her previous automatic techniques, leading her to paint more considered, deliberate personal interpretations when she returned to painting several years later." This echoes your comments above. Does it not imply that Steiner encouraged af Klint to approach her work from then on in a more conscious way ? Surely a perceptive and positive intention by him and very challenging for her. As you say, we may not know the exact situation. Suffice that her impressive body of work is a real pleasure to experience; the Serpentine exhibition was great !
Thank you very much for your reply, and for citing the book following the exhibition at the Serpentine Galleries. Very interesting, indeed. Still, I cannot find anything in the literature about Hilma af Klint and her meeting(s) with Rudolph Steiner that implies that he really did encourage her creations of paintings. But I find that she was inspired by his lectures and literature about theosophy and anthroposophy. By this, I mean, that I do not think that Steiner personally encouraged Hilma af Klint to change her approach to her paintings, because he was not interested in her art and he also was sceptical about her mediumstically paintings. When they first met in 1908, Steiner expressed when visiting her studio, that he was sceptical about her working as a medium, and claims her paintings will not be understood in another 50 years. "Hilma af Klint - A Pioneer of Abstraction" 2013, p. 42. Steiner did not like abstract art. He rejected abstraction and criticized the disappearance of figurative, p. 123. Hilma af Klint changes her apporach to painting after this meeting. And yes, most probably influenced by Steiner, she starts to paint more conscious, not only as a medium. But she took her own path, not blindly following the view of Steiner regarding religion and philospohy, p. 128. After many years, in 1920, they meet again, and Hilma tries to get Steiner interested in her paintings, but without success, p. 50. I think that if Steiner encouraged her in creating her art, he would have shown some interest in her paintings in 1920. But he didn`t. Anyway, I am glad that you got the opportunity to see the exhibition at the Serpentine Galleries! And that you liked the art. Amazing paintings, indeed. And I do not want to argue with you! : ) I just do not see it the way you see it. We interpret the available literature in different ways.
Thank you, you have been very diligent in your research about af Klint re. Steiner.
We have no argument here, only a sharing of views and a wish to know more deeply. I shall certainly try to have a look at the book you mention "Hilma af Klint - A Pioneer of Abstraction". Am I right in thinking that this was the one that accompanied the Stockholm exhibition.
Beware Rudolfs of the world!
She’s arrived.
❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤
If you want to explain what Hilma expresses, please study more about the theosophy and anthroposophy and don’t put everything in your thinking box.
Steiner had his own view of art and he was an artist himself. Why should he have changed his point of view only because she is a talented female artist?
It's a shame she didn't sought advice from Aleister Crowley instead of that stuffy old Rudolf Steiner.