The Parsifal Series and The Atom Series (1916–17)

The Parsifal Series is the first group of works that af Klint made after completing the Paintings for the Temple. Started in 1916, it is comprised of 144 works on paper divided into several groups, as usual  for her creative process. Their title comes from the Arthurian legend that recounts the quest for the Holy Grail by Parsifal and the other Knights of the Round Table. In this series, af Klint addressed the exploration of spiritual knowledge, continuing her inquiry into the messages she received from the spirit world. She created these works over the course of ten weeks in Villa Furuheim, her lakeside house on the Swedish island of Munsö. She later had a studio built on this land, where she planned to found a community with her innermost circle, though this dream was never realized.

A year later, she painted The Atom Series. At that time, science and spiritual thinking were in many ways intertwined; scientific discoveries proved the existence of a reality beyond the observable world, seeming to bolster the possibility that there were unseen spiritual forces, and Theosophy asserted that it was possible to know the atom through clairvoyance. Af Klint’s interest in atoms was also related to her fascination with the natural world. She considered the atom a gateway to the cosmos and in her notes, she claimed that the atom underwent a developmental process towards oneness much like her own spiritual journey.