The Ten Largest, No. 3, Youth, Group IV
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Frames ship to U.S. addresses only. Framed prints ship in 2–4 weeks and are final sale. Full framing details
Add Custom Frame
Frames ship to U.S. addresses only. Framed prints ship in 2–4 weeks and are final sale. Full framing details
Add Custom Frame
Frames ship to U.S. addresses only. Framed prints ship in 2–4 weeks and are final sale. Full framing details
Add Custom Frame
Frames ship to U.S. addresses only. Framed prints ship in 2–4 weeks and are final sale. Full framing details
Add Custom Frame
Frames ship to U.S. addresses only. Framed prints ship in 2–4 weeks and are final sale. Full framing details
In the 1890s, Hilma af Klint began meeting regularly with a group of female artists who together became known as “The Five”. The Five practiced various forms of spiritualism, believing they could communicate with a higher consciousness. Af Klint thought herself directed by this otherworldly force to create a group of paintings called The Ten Largest for “The Temple”, an entity never wholly defined or understood. Standing at a colossal 10 feet high and 8 feet wide, each painting in the series represents a different phase of life from early childhood to old age.
No. 3 depicts the transitional period of youth. Tonally, the series moves through a clear cycle of stylistic progression. While the early childhood works appear rather cellular with an emphasis on biological forms, youth is bright and dynamic. With swirling movement and colorful clusters of organic shapes, No. 3 is less diagrammatic than the more meditative, No. 7, Adulthood. Here, youth flourishes in a state of flux. Stylistically unbound by the artistic conventions of the time, No. 3 is one of the first examples of abstract art.
Hilma af Klint (1862-1944) was a Swedish artist and spiritualist whose colossal works have become known as some of the first examples of abstract art. With an early interest in visual art, mathematics, and botany, af Klint attended the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Stockholm where she excelled in landscape painting and portraiture. While making a living off commission from these conventional endeavors, af Klint became greatly involved in various forms of spiritualism including Anthroposophy, Theosophy, and Rosicrucianism. In the 1890s, she met four other female artists—together, they would become known as “The Five”. The Five met regularly, believing they could communicate with a higher consciousness. These beliefs heavily influenced and even “directed” af Klint’s work. She created her first series of abstract works in 1906, predating other artists such as Kandinsky and Mondrian, who are often regarded as the “pioneers of abstraction”. Soon she began to develop a more intentional and independent expression of her ideas, incorporating biomorphic forms, mathematical proportions, and vibrant hues.
Af Klint rarely exhibited her work and believed her contemporaries were not ready to fully understand it. Stipulating later in life that it should not be shown until 20 years after her death, her work was largely unknown until the 1980s. Af Klint painted for a future audience, one willing to embrace a female pioneer in the field and the holistic nature of her work.