Hilma af Klint

Hilma af Klint was a pioneer in many ways. She grew up in a naval officer family in Stockholm and Adelsö in Lake Mälaren. She belonged to one of the very first generations of women to be educated at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Stockholm. After graduating, she shared a studio with some of her female colleagues in the so-called Ateljéhuset on Hamngatan 5, near Kungsträdgården. It was the cultural center of the time, with Blanch's Café and Art salon on the ground floor.

The painting in the auction is an early work, created during this period. The motif is taken from Adelsö and depicts the gate to Adelsö cemetery. Around the northern and western parts of the cemetery, there is an old wall made of cut gray stone. Inside the wall, maple and ash trees grow. The realistic execution of the painting gives no hint of the dramatic development towards abstract painting that would follow.

Until her 40s, Hilma af Klint painted mainly portraits, landscapes, botanical studies, and commissioned works. Without any progressive transition, she then shifted from traditional painting to creating in an absolutely free and unconventional way.

Hilma af Klint has taken the art world by storm. From being practically unknown, she is now considered on par with the greatest modern painters, and her abstract works are considered groundbreaking. Long after her death, she has redrawn the map for early abstract art, both in Sweden and internationally.