Hilma af Klint & the Theosophical Roots of Abstraction in Western Art

John O'Rourke

Guardian newspaper art critic Adrian Searle referred to the 'occult symbolism and spiritualist gibberish' informing the work of Hilma af Klint. From a Theosophical perspective the exhibition he reviewed at Camden Arts Centre (February - April 06) was among the most important to emerge in recent decades. He accurately described her figurative works as ‘embarrassingly kitsch' [1] However, her large abstracted paintings, dating from 1907, are uncannily contemporary in appearance. They anticipate what is by now a rather tired characteristic in the work of many current artists whose work often evinces an absence of sensitivity to formal aspects of painting, where concept is all and process of secondary importance. Nevertheless, considering these abstracts were created the same year as Picasso's first cubist painting, it is clear we are dealing with an artist of intense historical significance. While this exhibition hopefully marks an impending willingness to review the formative roles of certain marginalised artists in the history of modernism, Searle's dismissive comments on the nature of occultism are symptomatic of a wide-spread reticence in accepting the Theosophical roots of abstraction in Western art. To understand possible reasons for this it helps to examine the opinions of earlier writers.

In Mona Lisa's Mustache: a Dissection of Modern Art (1947) T. H. Robsjohn- Gibbings was the first writer to expound the occult roots of modernism in a sustained manner. His view of occultism being negative and often naive, Rossetti was acknowledged as a key player informing Pre-Raphaelitism's preoccupation with occultism, Arthurian Legend etc. He viewed subsequent developments as control orientated and elitist reactions to the anti-authoritarian, implicitly socialist and "scientific impressionism" of artists like Seurat and Pissarro. This "elitism", he claimed, manifested itself in a retrogressive obsession with the existence of "men of genius", who, for reasons of social and professional status, set themselves up as being in possession of special insight beyond the capacity of the common masses. Regardless of his biased interpretation of historical information this is an important text and his identification of the creative person's ego as (potentially) attention-seeking and self-mystifying is particularly relevant for any reassessment of the history of ideas. He highlighted, what amounts to, a conspiracy of silence among many art historians and artists where an open acknowledgement of the influence of occultism is concerned. Whilst seeing the Theosophical Society as the spiritual source of inspiration for many artists, he identified two reasons for this reticence. The first concerned the Society of Psychic Research's investigation and report.[2] In the light of 'evidence' (proven false in 1986) condemning H. P. Blavatsky and a subsequent loss of credibility, it is understandable, though not defendable, that historians might desire to keep established 'men of genius' clear of any embarrassing historical baggage. In the case of Robsjohn-Gibbings this baggage was no obstacle to his hypothesis; it was useful. The second reason offered by the author for a wide-spread silence among artists is concerned with their desire to be seen as mystical innovators informing, rather than being informed by, other people's creativity.[3] A core of truth within this argument is easily illustrated.

Throughout his life Kandinsky acknowledged the work of C.W. Leadbeater and Annie Besant. Nevertheless, in his major publication Concerning the Spiritual in Art they are studiously omitted. He mentions and praises Blavatsky by name, but any reference to the paintings created by Mr Prince, Miss MacFarlane and John Varley (grandson of John Varley, occultist, astrologer and friend of William Blake) are similarly absent.[4] Since the images created by Varley (especially the Gounod and Wagner Music Form in Thought Forms) directly influenced his painting style this economy of information is misleading.[5] While discussing images of the Health Aura, featured in Man Visible and Invisible, and relating them to Kandinsky's 1912 Woman of Moscow, Fred Gettings noted that Kandinsky's meditative practices would have enabled him to see auras first hand.[6] Even so, where the images from Thought Forms are concerned, Leadbeater and Besant made a point of emphasising the fact that the illustrations in question were selectively symbolic of the astral forms represented; some visual aspects being strongly emphasised at the expense of others which are ignored.[7]

In the tenth chapter, Chromo Mentalism, of Edwin D Babbit's 1878 publication, Principles of Light and Colour, a similar acknowledgement of the incredible beauty of such visions, beyond the realms of any person's imagination, is made.[8] In the absence of Leadbeater's deliberately codified approach, had Kandinsky's paintings been created from first hand experience then the outcome would have been different. Because of this, there is no doubt in my mind that Kandinsky was primarily influenced by these images, whilst backdating works like The First Abstract watercolour from 1913 to 1910 for his own purposes.[9] None of this invalidates the work of Kandinsky but it does reveal something of the man's ambition and, more importantly, supports some of Robsjohn-Gibbings's observations. The influence of Leadbeater and Besant's work on Kandinsky is revisited periodically. While organising his 1977 exhibition Art of the Invisible, my friend Vince Rea contacted Adyar. The Theosophical Society Headquarters in Adyar had Varley's illustrations stored in a sealed box. These were generously loaned to Vince and formed a central feature of the exhibition in the Bede Gallery, Jarrow. Alf Corlett wrote the text for the catalogue.[10]

In contrast to the eclectic and impressive work of Kandinsky, Hilma's paintings ring true as projects guided largely by her own experiences. In an odd way this primal immediacy in her work is reinforced by its amateur appearance and clumsy execution. This might have contributed to the views of some, including Searle, where she is understood to have been more or less isolated from the trends in the avant-garde art of her period. As a female graduate of the Stockholm Royal Academy she was doubtlessly aware of the widespread negative assumptions of the time, in relation to artistic creativity of women. Her activities evinced such an awareness. Anna Maria Svensson's excellent catalogue records af Klint's membership of a Society for Swedish Woman Artists; 'The view of Hilma af Klint as a totally unworldly artist is here shown to be a misconception, for in 1912 she acted as the society's secretary for a period'.[11]

She was born in Sweden 1862 and as a child demonstrated mediumistic gifts. After the death of her sister in 1879 she became involved with Spiritualism and in 1888 joined the Theosophical Society, being active in a Swedish Lodge. Later she left in favour of Rudolf Steiner's Anthroposophy which she encountered in 1920. In 1896 she also formed an occult gathering of women named The Five or The Friday Group. They claimed to have 'spirit world' leaders, or 'High Masters', Gregor, Clemens, Ameliel, Ananda and Esther among others, and kept careful notes of their instructions. According to af Klint, in 1904 Ananda told her to begin producing paintings from the Astral Plane. This, she was informed, would follow a period of preparing to mediate a message. She began in 1906 the paintings.

The year 1907 also offers a crucial indication of another formative influence. During that year she is known to have attended one of Annie Besant's lectures in Stockholm. Revealingly, the lecture was concerned with Thought Forms and Man Visible and Invisible.[12]

Where Leadbeater and Besant offer clear explanations of the illustrations in their books, Hilma 's works, such as Manhood from her The Ten Biggest series of 1907 are deliberately presented without explanations of the symbolism involved. Such an enigmatic approach was rationalised by her, drawing attention to instructions received: "I was not to say anything about the content, merely the methodology". The large paintings of 1907, some measuring 328cm high by 240cm wide, took four days each to complete. The paintings were intended as vehicles of insight into four stages of life - childhood, youth, maturity and old age. Af Klint referred to these, 'symmetrical, spontaneous, astral pictures', as being produced under the direction of a Guru for whom she acted as a psychic channel, but also stated, "It was not the case that I was to blindly obey the High Lords of the Mysteries, but that I was to imagine that they were always standing by my side".[13] Hilma died in 1944. She left instructions with her nephew, to whom all the paintings were donated. They were not to be shown to the public until she had been dead for twenty years.[14] In a 1986 exhibition in Los Angeles, The Spiritual in Art: Abstract Painting 1890-1985, her work began to be given the recognition it deserves. In an interview with Charles Jencks, Maurice Tuchman stated:

I think that Hilma's saga is an electrifying revelation because she's a real artist. On one level it's a fantastic case because she's a control or test case for the thesis of the exhibition; meaning she was not involved with advanced European art, she had no information about it, she was as isolated as your ultimate laboratory specimen would be in a scientific experiment. [15]

Where her cultural awareness is concerned, Tuchman's observations differ from Anna Maria Svensson's but regardless of such details the central role of Theosophical occult practice as a basis for early abstraction has been reinforced by growing awareness of Hilma af Klint.

REFERENCES:

1. Adrian Searle. Out of This World. Guardian Newspaper 14/03/06
2. T H Robsjohn-Gibbings. Mona Lisa’s Mustache - pgs 15, 21-23, 28, 31, 45, 54-56.
3.Ibid pg56
4. Wassily Kandinsky. Concerning the Spiritual in Art - pg 13
5. Sixten Ringbom. The Sounding Cosmos - pgs 89 & 148a
6. Fred Gettings. The Hidden Art - pg 139
7. Annie Besant & C W Leadbeater. Thought Forms - pgs 72-73
8. Edwin D Babbit. Principles of Light and Colour - pgs 184-185
9. Hajo Duchting. Kandinsky illustration and date pg 39 & Sixten Ringbom, Sounding Cosmos - pg 164 illustration 77
10. Vince Rea & Alf Corlett. Art of the Invisible - pg 104
11. Anna Maria Svensson. Hilma af Klint: The Greatness of Things - pg 15
12. Ibid - pgs 7 & 25
13. Ibid – pgs 18&19
14. Sally O'Reilly. Hilma af Klint: An atom of the Universe - pg 5
15. Charles Jencks interviewing Maurice Tuchman. The Spiritual in Art: Abstract Painting - featured in: Abstract Art & the Rediscovery of the Spiritual pg 22

The Theosophical Society 2006
reproduced from 'Insight' Autumn 2006 (Vol 47 No.3), The Journal of The Theosophical Society in England