Exploring ideas at Klint and Mondrian - Forms of Life exhibition, Tate Modern
- Katherine
- Jun 7, 2023
- 5 min read
Themes:
Why I go to art exhibitions
Artist motivation, influences, process, instinct
Engagement with nature
Masculine and feminine forces
Interconnectivity
Moving away from conventions of representational art
When I went to see the exhibition at the Tate this weekend, I hoped for an 'all consuming' creative experience and despite the crowds, it was everything I'd hoped for....but not in the way I expected. Apologies in advance as I am likely to over-indulge myself in exploring the ideas around the show...
When I go to an exhibition, it’s to find out more about the creative processes of the artists, their influences, motivations and how their work reflects the cultural context around them. (it's all about the methodology right?) It causes me to reflect on my own creative process and opens me up to new ideas.
(The Red Tree 1910)
I was already pretty familiar with Mondrian from my teaching experience (Father of Modernism anyone??) and was definitely excited to see my favourite tree in real life rather then on screen. Mondrian's way of seeing nature changed how I look at trees forever!
(view from my window, after 'The Red Tree', 2022)
...but Hilda Af Klint was a new discovery and for me her work stole the show (Sorry Mondrian) .
Klint’s floor-to-ceiling pieces couldn’t fail to make an impact, even by today's standards, you could feel the sense of awe amongst those in the room. They were clearly abstract but also had a strange geometry and biological feel to them, like some kind of code and the application of paint was really quite detailed and neat, compared to Mondrian. I wanted to know everything about her! Her process, the colours and subject choices, heres what I found out...
(Hilma Af Klint - The Ten Largest, 1907)
Her influences came from Theosophy, Christianity, and Anthroposophy ( I've added quick explanations below) and her largest works, 'Paintings for the Temple' she believed were commissioned by a sprirtual guide called Amaliel.
“Amaliel offered me a work and I answered immediately Yes...”, Hilma af Klint wrote in the Notebook HaK 555 (p. 8) (2.)*
she also said this of her process...
“The pictures were painted directly through me, without any preliminary drawings, and with great force. I had no idea what the paintings were supposed to depict; nevertheless I worked swiftly and surely, without changing a single brush stroke.” *
interesting....
When you see the huge paintings she's talking about its hard to believe she worked like this completely on instinct without preparation. I also discovered that she used tempera, which would have been quite a challenge at that scale. It says alot about how strong her motivation was and how it informed her process.
While Mondrian reduced his subject matter to vertical and horizontal lines, representing balance in the opposing forces of masculine (vertical) and feminine (horizontal), Klint used colour and a mix of curved and straight lines (although mostly curved from what I saw), contrast colours and symbols to represent those forces; in a more complex representation of nature. (is this indicative of the masculine v feminine viewpoints of the artists?) on investigating further here are what some of the symbols mean (thankyou Moderna Museet (3)) :
The snail or spiral represents development or evolution.
The eyelet and the hook, blue and yellow, and the lily and the rose represent femininity and masculinity respectively.
W stands for matter, while U stands for spirit.
The almond shape arising when two circles overlap is called the vesica piscis and is an ancient symbol for the development towards unity and completion.
The swan represents the ethereal in many mythologies and religions and stands for completion in the alchemical tradition.
In Christianity, the dove represents the holy spirit and love.
Her colour combinations struck me as typically pretty and feminine with all the pastel tones she uses which was unexpectedly appealing....
....Immediately the fashion designer in me connected this to the recent AW23 catwalks, where pastels made a big appearance (interconnectivity works across all design disciplines aswell.)
AW23 catwalks coverage, Tagwalk
....and of course we all know that Art influences fashion....
Yves Saint Laurent Mondrian dresses at the Museum of Modern Art, 1966
But back to the art....I tried to look deeper into her colour influences because I love a bit of colour psychology. Whereas Mondrian's primary colours denote the purest state of colour ie. those which cannot be mixed, Klint's were again more complex and it wasn't so easy to find a good explanation other than that blue and yellow denoted masculine and feminine. (Tate exhibition guide)
I did find that she was linked to Johann Wofgang Von Goethe and his book 'theory of colour' which might explain a few things....
His theory that colour effects emotion and his focus on human perception of the colour spectrum also informed the theosophists and also the book 'Thought Forms' by Annie Besant and Charles Leadbeater... so it makes sense that she was influenced by these theories.
Af Klint's abstract paintings started in 1906 – well prior to other Western artists so these works were even more groundbreaking then than now and it seems she was aware of this as according to Bryony Fer, one of the show's curators, in the podcast ‘The Week in Art’ by Art Newspaper, Klint stipulated that her most ambitious work 'Paintings for the temple' could not be shown until 20 years after her death as she felt it was for the 'future people'. (1)
Johan af Klint and Hedvig Ersman from the Lebachaus also wrote that Rudolf Steiner (then the leader of the Theosophical movement in Germany) did not understand the message of the paintings, but advised her not to show them for fifty years (2)
Perhaps they were right because showing the work now seems so relevant when we are all questioning our engagement in nature (very on point, thanks Tate)
Other thoughts and fun contextual facts from the show and my research...I like to pop them here in case they come up again later.
The proclamation from Mondrian that all religions are based on the same expression of primary principles and differ only in form (4) ...makes alot of sense
I'm always interested in how the same ideas can occur in different peoples' minds but their response and interpretation is what differs (influences, experience, creative impulses, exploring ideas through art)
Heres a bit of context for you....Hilma af Klint lived during a period of pronounced uncertainty. As a result of the industrialisation, people moved from the country side to the towns, cutting off their social networks. In addition, the discoveries within natural sciences (radio waves, X-rays, etc.) made people realise that there are aspects, which we may not perceive with our five senses. In this environment of changes, various religious movements expanded in popularity. People were searching for something to hold on to. This was common in all levels of society. (2) rings true of what's happening today perhaps, looking forward to all the great art!
The proclamation from Mondrian that all religions are based on the same expression of primary principles and differ only in form (4.) makes alot of sense to me
According to the Tate, Klint who was relatively unknown during her life, compared to Mondrian which begs the question was it due to the under representation of women in art? Easy to assume this but
Glossary
Theosophy is a general doctrine incorporating inspiration from various religions and spiritism. The religions are regarded as different expressions of one fundamental truth. Theosophy teaches that the origin of everything, divinity, is inherent in every being. The Theosophical Society was founded in New York in 1875 by Helena Blavatsky and others.
Anthroposophy is a life philosophy that originated in theosophy. Rudolf Steiner, who was the leader of the German branch of the Theosophical Society, left theosophy in 1913 to set up the anthroposophical movement. The two philosophies have a great deal in common, but anthroposophy in general has a stronger Christian element.
references
Bryony Fer, speaking on the podcast ‘The Week in Art’ by Art Newspaper
Painted for the future – and the future is now By Johan af Klint and Hedvig Ersman. https://www.lenbachhaus.de/blog/hilma-af-klint-painted-for-the-future-and-the-future-is-now#:~:text=However%2C%20she%20developed%20her%20own,studied%20anthroposophy%20primarily%20from%201922.
Moderna Museet page: https://www.modernamuseet.se/stockholm/en/exhibitions/hilma-af-klint-2013/
Tate Modern exhibition guide available at the show
Great article!