After graduating from the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Stockholm, Hilma af Klint took part in group exhibitions and became a respected naturalistic painter in Stockholm. She also demonstrated the range and depth of her skill in her work as a commercial artist. The Stockholm’s Institute of Veterinary Medicine commissioned her to make detailed drawings of equine anatomy and embryonic development, which were published in a book in 1901. She also created illustrations for children’s books, as well as embroidery designs.

Though the paintings and illustrations she created for broad public consumption conveys Hilma af Klint’s talent, her spiritually driven works demonstrate her incredible inventiveness. In these pieces, the artist combined her intense observation and precise rendering skills with her innovative abstract motifs, enabling her to represent the forces that lay beyond the perceptible world. This dynamic can be seen in her series The Swan, 1915, where realistic representations transform into highly abstracted forms.

 

Dental operation for a Horse,
Chalk and pencil on paper, 35 x 43 cm,
Courtesy Hilma af Klint Foundation, Stockholm, Hak 1299.
©The Hilma af Klint Foundation, Bilbao 2024