Hilma Af Klint

Press kit

Hilma Af Klint, Colombe, n° 2, 1915, oil on canvas, 155,5 × 115,5 cm, HaK174
By courtesy of the Hilma af Klint Foundation / photo The Moderna Museet, Stockholm

In spring 2026, the Grand Palais and Centre Pompidou present a unique exhibition around Hilma af Klint (1862-1944), an artist whose work disrupts the chronology of modern art. Long before established figures of abstraction such as Wassily Kandinsky or Kazimir Malevitch, Hilma af Klint produced paintings of exceptional boldness as early as 1906, combining geometry, flat expanses of bright colour and organic motifs, announcing the major currents of the 20th century.

For the fist time in France, the Grand Palais and Centre Pompidou are exhibiting the Paintings for the Temple (1906-1915), her magnum opus, which includes the monumental series of The Ten Largest, showcasing the visionary power of an artist who was truly ahead of her time.

Trained at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Stockholm, Hilma af Klint led parallel artistic lives: one conventional, with traditional figurative works, the other clandestine, which remained defiantly avant garde. Influenced by her commitment to the Theosophical Society, Hilma af Klint drew her creative freedom from spiritualist sessions with a group of women who shared her utopian vision.Spirals, circles and beams of light reflect a search for cosmic harmony and the invisible forces that govern the world, giving her works a universal and timeless dimension.

Hilma af Klint chose not to reveal her abstract work to her contemporaries, stating in her will that her works must remain sealed for twenty years after her death. This contributed to the late recognition of her work. It was not until the exhibition "The Spiritual in Art, Abstract Painting 1890-1985" was held in Los Angeles in 1986 that her abstract paintings were first presented to the general public, marking the beginning of her international renown.

This is the fist major solo exhibition of the Swedish artist Hilma af Klint to be seen in France, coinciding with an extensive re-evaluation of her work in recent years, notably as part of a revision of the role of women in the field of modern art. Hilma af Klint remains largely overlooked in French museums, even though she is now considered worldwide to be an essential artist of modern art and the historical beginnings of abstraction.

Beyond the retrospective tribute, this exhibition highlights the many sources of inspiration in her work (esotericism, folklore and popular art, scientific culture) and questions how art history has long overlooked women artists and their contributions to foundational movements. Hilma af Klint emerges here as a pivotal figure, capable of transcending the boundaries between art, science and spirituality, who continues to inspire new generations. A unique experience to discover an artist who, while rooted in her era, seemed to be in dialogue with the future.

Curated by

Pascal Rousseau, Professor at Université de Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne