Hilma af Klint

Hilma af Klint was born in Sweden on 26 October 1862 and trained as a conventional artist before joining "The Five", a circle of women steeped in Theosophy who believed they could reach the "High Masters" through séances. What emerged from those sessions were paintings that looked like diagrams—visual translations of spiritual ideas no one had yet tried to render without objects or figures. A considerable body of that work predates the abstract pioneers who later claimed the territory. She kept painting in this vein for years, but the canvases stayed hidden. She died on 21 October 1944, five d…