Hilma af Klint's Science and Occult Roots of Abstraction at Grand Palais
The Grand Palais in Paris presents 'Hilma af Klint', an exhibition exploring how the Swedish artist synthesized scientific discoveries and occult beliefs to pioneer abstraction. Running from May 6 to August 30, 2026, the show highlights her series 'Paintings for the Temple' (1906–1915). Af Klint, who participated in spiritist séances from 1879, was influenced by X-rays (Röntgen, 1895), the telegraph (Morse, 1837), and radioactivity (Curie, Nobel 1903). Her works reference Hertzian waves, atomic structure, and the Pleiades constellation. She also drew on Swedish folk art, runic stones, and Goethe's color theory via Rudolf Steiner. The exhibition includes loans from the Hilma af Klint Foundation and Moderna Museet, Stockholm. Curated by Pascal Rousseau, it builds on the 2003 Musée d'Orsay show 'Aux origines de l'abstraction'.
Key facts
- Exhibition at Grand Palais, Paris, from May 6 to August 30, 2026.
- Focuses on af Klint's 'Paintings for the Temple' series (1906–1915).
- Af Klint attended spiritist séances from 1879.
- Influenced by X-rays (1895), telegraph (1837), and radioactivity (Curie, 1903).
- Her series 'Atom' (1917) references atomic disintegration.
- She studied Goethe's color theory via Rudolf Steiner.
- Incorporated Swedish folk motifs, runic stones, and bindmössa headdresses.
- Curated by Pascal Rousseau; previously shown at Guggenheim New York in 2019.
Entities
Artists
- Hilma af Klint
- Vassily Kandinsky
- Kazimir Malevich
- Piet Mondrian
- Rudolf Steiner
- Samuel Morse
- Wilhelm Röntgen
- Marie Curie
- Pierre Curie
- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- Charles Darwin
- Olhans Olof Jonsson
- Wassily Kandinsky
- Anna Cassel
- Thomasine Andersson
- Bertha Valerius
- Julia Voss
- Pascal Rousseau
- Angela Lampe
- Erik af Klint
- Johan af Klint
- Frank Lloyd Wright
- Gustav III
- Sigrid Hedman
- Cornelia Cederberg
- Mathilda Nilsson
- Caroline Levisse
Institutions
- Grand Palais
- Hilma af Klint Foundation
- Moderna Museet
- Guggenheim Museum New York
- Musée d'Orsay
- Académie royale des beaux-arts
- École technique
- Nordic Museum (Musée nordique)
- Dalarnas museum
- Connaissance des Arts
- Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA)
- Guggenheim Museum Bilbao
- Académie royale des beaux-arts de Stockholm
- Société théosophique
- Société anthroposophique universelle
- Centre Pompidou
- AWARE: Archives of Women Artists, Research and Exhibitions
- Arte
- Guggenheim New York
- Moderna Museet Stockholm
- Theosophical Society
- Beaux Arts Magazine
- Pompidou Centre
- Royal Academy of Fine Arts
- MoMa
- Royal Academy of Fine Arts Stockholm
Locations
- Paris
- France
- Stockholm
- Sweden
- Adelsö
- New York
- United States
- Falun
- Bilbao
- Spain
- Los Angeles
- Switzerland
- Berlin
- Germany
- Seoul
- South Korea