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Notes and Methods
At the turn of the twentieth century, Swedish artist Hilma af Klint (1862–1944) created a body of work that left visible reality behind, exploring the radical possibilities of abstraction years before Vasily Kandinsky, Kazimir Malevich, or Piet Mondrian. Many consider her the first trained artist to create abstract paintings. With Hilma af Notes and Methods , we get to experience the arc of af Klint’s artistic investigation in her own words.
Hilma af Klint studied at the Royal Swedish Academy in Stockholm where she was part of the first generation of female students. Up until the beginning of the century, she painted mainly landscapes and detailed botanical studies. Her work from this period was that of a young artist of her time who meticulously observed the world around her. But, like many of her contemporaries, af Klint was also interested in the invisible relationships that shape our world, believing strongly in a spiritual dimension. She joined the Theosophical Society, and, with four fellow female members who together called themselves “The Five,” began to study mediumship. Between 1906 and 1915, purportedly guided by a higher power, af Klint created 193 individual works that, in both scale and scope of imagery, are like no other art created at that time. Botanically inspired images and mystical symbols, diagrams, words, and geometric series, all form part of af Klint’s abstract language. These abstract techniques would not be seen again until years later.
Notes and Methods presents facsimile reproductions of a wide array of af Klint’s early notebooks accompanied by the first English translation of af Klint’s extensive writings. It contains the rarely seen “Blue Notebooks,” hand-painted and annotated catalogues af Klint created of her most famous series “Paintings for the Temple,” and a dictionary compiled by af Klint of the words and letters found in her work. This extraordinary collection is edited by and copublished with Christine Burgin, and features an introduction by Iris Müller-Westermann. It will stand as an important and timely contribution to the legacy of Hilma af Klint.
Hilma af Klint studied at the Royal Swedish Academy in Stockholm where she was part of the first generation of female students. Up until the beginning of the century, she painted mainly landscapes and detailed botanical studies. Her work from this period was that of a young artist of her time who meticulously observed the world around her. But, like many of her contemporaries, af Klint was also interested in the invisible relationships that shape our world, believing strongly in a spiritual dimension. She joined the Theosophical Society, and, with four fellow female members who together called themselves “The Five,” began to study mediumship. Between 1906 and 1915, purportedly guided by a higher power, af Klint created 193 individual works that, in both scale and scope of imagery, are like no other art created at that time. Botanically inspired images and mystical symbols, diagrams, words, and geometric series, all form part of af Klint’s abstract language. These abstract techniques would not be seen again until years later.
Notes and Methods presents facsimile reproductions of a wide array of af Klint’s early notebooks accompanied by the first English translation of af Klint’s extensive writings. It contains the rarely seen “Blue Notebooks,” hand-painted and annotated catalogues af Klint created of her most famous series “Paintings for the Temple,” and a dictionary compiled by af Klint of the words and letters found in her work. This extraordinary collection is edited by and copublished with Christine Burgin, and features an introduction by Iris Müller-Westermann. It will stand as an important and timely contribution to the legacy of Hilma af Klint.
288 pages, Hardcover
Published September 25, 2018
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
December 15, 2020
a good friend of mine viewed hilma's exhibit at the guggenheim & i told her it was hard on the friendship . fans of her work will find these rarely circulated notebooks and writings fascinating.
January 16, 2020
Hilma is everything!
May 14, 2019
Image rich, an invaluable resource for those wishing to get at af Klint's thoughts on her work. This volume really includes her notebooks, which she used to talk about her work with others. I would think a bigger format might have helped this, as might more text, explaining a little more about her personal and intellectual life...It feels like more insight into af Klint might be useful.
April 26, 2020
The worst part (!) of quarantine for me has been not having access to interlibrary loan which means I can't ILL my favorite art books and instead have to make tough decisions about which to buy and which can wait. Anyway I'm so glad I bought this, it's luminous, I love it. Not a lot of text but what is there opens up so many doors to thinking and seeing things.
July 23, 2023
direction lines: longing for balance between sour and sweet. peevish resistance to lack of balance. goodwill toward the bird kingdom.
January 17, 2020
Hilma af Klint painted for the future- and the future is now!
I "discovered" Hilma af Klint last year, and I've been obsessed with her art ever since. This collection of notebooks (beautifully reproduced in full color) was an excellent way to dive a little deeper into her paintings and writings. My only complaint is that this book essentially just relays translations of af Klint's notebooks without offering much in the way of interpreting her art. For an artist who was guided by esoteric symbols and thought, simply reading an alphabetical list (via the artist's own hand, but still) of what certain letters and symbols mean is not super helpful to the layperson- in this case, myself.
Still, there was so much to get out of this book. I was enraptured, and I'll be back for more.
I "discovered" Hilma af Klint last year, and I've been obsessed with her art ever since. This collection of notebooks (beautifully reproduced in full color) was an excellent way to dive a little deeper into her paintings and writings. My only complaint is that this book essentially just relays translations of af Klint's notebooks without offering much in the way of interpreting her art. For an artist who was guided by esoteric symbols and thought, simply reading an alphabetical list (via the artist's own hand, but still) of what certain letters and symbols mean is not super helpful to the layperson- in this case, myself.
Still, there was so much to get out of this book. I was enraptured, and I'll be back for more.
March 15, 2022
Hilma af Klint is an incredible visionary artist. The pictures of her sketchbooks in this book are very provocative. It gives you a glimpse into her world. I was hoping for more on her methods, as the title suggests, but I didn't really gather those from this. Its more where you glean her methods from the drawings and glossary she created. And that's awesome too. Just different than what I was hoping for. Guess I'll have to do a seance and call her in for guidance on her specific methods and approaches!
July 6, 2023
This volume brings much invaluable & fascinating material into print. Not a good entry-point to understanding her work, unfortunately, even as someone visually familiar with her work: this is because her working notes really aren’t put into sufficient context, leaving the reader wondering about the significance of all these potent sentences. I’ll likely refer to this book whilst reading Paintings for the Future & the biography. It leaves one puzzled, tantalised & aware of having been granted an ephemeral glimpse into the vast intellectual complexity of Hilma’s work.
October 17, 2022
This has beautiful illustrations, and does cover af Klint’s method and ideas behind her sketches and paintings, but lacked the more in depth biographical info that I wanted. As someone just learning about af Klint, this book would be better suited after reading more about her life, and how she became involved in spiritualism.
August 17, 2020
Looking at Hilma af Klint's work is like being transported to another dimension. I wish I had seen her show at the Guggenheim. I always love reproductions of artists' notebooks because you get a glimpse into their thinking. It is a very personal way to examine their work.
March 28, 2023
I got this book as a gift for Christmas, and as an avid af Klint fan, I love it. It's a wonderful book for an art book collector, but also has some decent tidbits for af Klint's processes and ideas surrounding her work, all of which is beautiful. One of my favorite art books in my collection.
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July 24, 2025I'm new to the work of af Klint, but am prepared to be a big fan. The works here are beautiful, equally engaging upon a quick flick through or thorough examination. They are so rich, colorful and lively, and full of her own symbolism.
This is a beautiful book.
This is a beautiful book.
November 17, 2025
This was a fascinating look into the work of a woman whose abstract art predated the famous men who would make it famous later. Most interesting to me, which this book described only briefly, were Af Klint's methods for channeling art and meaning down from the Masters.
March 25, 2021
Although there is much I would like to understand better, I felt enlightened. I wish the book had more interpretation and explanation.
November 26, 2021
She might’ve been onto something. I def would have joined her girl boss séance cult
February 13, 2024
I dream of seeing Hilma’s work in person
August 2, 2024
Hyyyper cool d'avoir un livre de ses notes et carnets de recherches
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews