Group IV, The Ten Largest, No. 7, Adulthood by Hilma af Klint

Monumental works in the history of abstraction, Swedish artist Hilma af Klint created abstract paintings before the term “abstract art” was even coined. Group IV, The Ten Largest, No. 7, Adulthood is one of her most significant works, part of a series of ten large-scale paintings. The paintings are largely influenced the ideas of spiritualism and Theosophy, which were popular in the Western world at the time. The pieces challenge the Western art historical canon, pre-dating the work of male artists like Kandinsky and Mondrian who are typically credited with the invention of abstract art. Thus, the works are representative of the challenges women artists have faced throughout history. These colossal works in art history were kept privately underground for decades and rarely exhibited. Af Klint even stipulated in her will that the paintings could not be shown for twenty years after her passing. They would be essentially lost and forgotten until 1986. In 1988, The Secret Paintings of Hilma af Klint toured around Finland, Iceland and Norway in a small exhibition. New York’s P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center showcased the works a year later in 1989 which finally drew broader public attention to the works. Af Klint’s work consistently toured around Europe for the next several decades but it was not until 2018 that af Klint received a major solo exhibition in the United States, Hilma af Klint: Paintings for the Future at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum.