In December
1907 Hilma af Klint and the group De Fem finished the of a series of ten
paintings, called De tio största (The Ten Largest). This series is
said to depict the evolution of human life from birth to old age. The series
makes an indelible impression, if only because of the size of the works: they
are twice the height of the average human being. The paintings are also extremely
rich in iconographical details: an abundance of floral motives, arabesque-like script
and geometric shapes.
The
iconographical richness of the series defies any simple explanation. Descriptions
in literature are, possibly because of it, mainly highly descriptive in
character, and when inspirational sources are mentioned, they are interpreted
in the way Hilma af Klint’s fame rose from the late 1980’s: late 19th
and early 20th century Occultism: Theosophy and Anthroposophy.
But if that
is true remains much to be seen. Why do all the analyses fall short of a
thorough interpretation based on the iconography itself, on the ideas of the
painter(s) and on the setting in which the works originated?
Hilma was
part of the women’s group De Fem, consisting of five members: Sigrid Hedman,
the medium; Mathilda Nilsson, publisher and main psychographer; and three
painters: Anna Cassel, Hilma af Klint and Cornelia Cederberg, who all knew each
other from their training at the School of Decorative Arts and the Royal
Academy. This group, a subdivision of the Edelweissförbundet, had a specific mission:
to produce paintings for a “temple.”
Of the
proceedings seven notebooks exist: five made during sessions of De Fem, and two
separate ones by Anna Cassel and Hilma af Klint. These last notebooks in fact
are extracts of the now destroyed 28 (sic) original notebooks. Hilma made these
extracts shortly after 1927, and annotated them another time in 1934. Thus the
two existing notebooks contain only a sliver of the original ones. Not only
that. By piecing together the information of all of the seven notebooks it
becomes clear that Hilma deliberately twisted history to her advantage when all
of her colleagues had died. She describes her role in the group as the superior
one, as the genius behind the work. Also she superimposes her later Occult
worldview on work that was made around 1906-1908. None of this is historically
correct.
The first
of
The Ten Largest,
Childhood, is a perfect study object to delve
deeper into the real events and contemporary context. A minute analysis of the
mission of the group and the iconographical breakdown of all of the elements of
the painting have resulted in a stunning picture of the circumstances and of the
reasons why the specific pictorial elements were chosen. The genius behind the
work – in fact of the whole concept of all of the series – is Anna Cassel, who solely
received the assignment from the spirits through Sigrid Hedman to create a
vision based on “the saga’s
:” “… not written by human
hand but carved into the finest matter of human life. For this you must know:
for he who [has] eyes to see with, there is a living writing in space, a diary
of the changing destinies of the world, of the many lives of the individual.”
The
analysis of Childhood provides an array of the predictable impulses that
Anna has worked into the painting. Among them are Christian Spiritualism and
Pietism (the religious orientation of De Fem and the Edelweissförbundet), Norse
folklore, archeology and rune culture, all in the context of Swedish National
Romanticism. The theme of the series has nothing to do with the natural
progression of a human life. It symbolizes the birth and development of the
modern Christian identity of the young, newly formed Swedish State in 1905.
The book is
available HERE.
