Paintings for the Future/Spirituality and Identity

I personally am not much of an art person, but I am open to learning about and exploring different subjects. The Guggenheim was one of the first few art museums I’ve ever visited in my life and it was an enjoyable experience that I would like to try again sometime in the future. Hilma Af Klint’s artwork was something I’ve never seen before. The only artwork I’m used to seeing are photographers work on Instagram whether it be portraits or landscapes.

Getting to see and experience a very different type of artwork was like getting brought into a whole different world. Its impressive to have learned that Af Klint worked on made so much art all on her own and not just small paintings, but large ones like the ones seen in “The Ten Largest”. “It is a massive piece—about 10 feet tall by 8 feet wide—and it is not a landscape, a portrait, a still life, nor a scene from myth or history.” Like I said before I’m mostly used to seeing portraits or landscapes on a very small scale. It made me think how much hard work and time Af Klint put into these paintings and made me appreciate a different form of art.

I myself am not much of a spiritual person, so spiritualism isn’t something that affects my work. On the other hand learning about Af Klints group “The Five” was something I didn’t know happened ever. It was surprising to read about how Af Klint created some of her work not because she just wanted to but because she was instructed to do so by the “High Masters”. For example, “In 1905, she was instructed to create the 193 large-scale abstract paintings that would comprise her series ‘The Paintings for the Temple’ (1906-1915), and which, in speaking the language of angels, broke all the rules of art.” I’m not one to out right believe in a higher power or spirits or anything, but I am open to these things.

Being able to see Af Klint’s notebook with the sketch and description of the temple she imagined and automatic drawings made me think that maybe there is a higher power. I didn’t really understand or know what I was looking at when viewing some of her work, but the possibility of higher ups intructing Af Klint to create these art pieces makes it easier to wrap my head around.