希尔玛·阿夫·克林特 Hilma af Klint丨抽象画第一人The First Abstract Painter
Hilma af Klint works at a showing in 2014
希尔玛·阿芙·克林特在2014年的艺术展上的作品。
In the art history of painting, Wassily Kandinsky (1866-1944) is usually regarded as the forerunner of contemporary abstract painting art. However, the discovery of Hilma af Klint has cast doubt on Kandinsky's identity as the first person to do abstract painting, and people began to question who the actual first person was in this field.
在绘画的艺术史上，人们通常认为康定斯基（Wassily Kandinsky 1866-1944）是当代抽象绘画艺术的先驱。但希尔玛·阿夫·克林特Hilma af Klint的被发现，使得康定斯基抽象绘画第一人的身份受到了动摇，人们开始质疑，究竟谁才是这一领域的真正第一人。
Hilma af Klint in her studio in 1895.
1895年希尔玛在她的工作室里。
The word “discovery” was used because of the testament of Hilma af Klint. Hilma af Klint was born in Sweden in 1862 and died in 1944 after a car accident at the age of 82. Before her death, she left all her abstract paintings to her nephew, who was a naval vice-general in the Swedish army. And in her testament, she requested that her abstract painting works were not allowed to be exhibited for the next 20 years.
之所以用“被发现”一词，与Hilma af Klint的遗嘱有关。Hilma af Klint出生于1862年的瑞典，之后在一场车祸后于1944年离世，享年82岁。在她过世之前，将自己所有的抽象绘画留给了自己在瑞典军队任海军副将的侄子，并且在遗嘱中规定，自己的作品不允许在未来二十年内被展出。
Left: Hilma af Klint, Serie W, Nr 5. Kunskapens träd (1915). © Stiftelsen Hilma af Klints Verk. Right: Plate from Secret Symbols of the Rosicrucianians of the 16th and 17th Centuries (1785).
Hilma af Klint, “The Ten Largest, №4, Youth”, 1907
Hilma af Klint, Series II, Number 2a: The Current Standpoint of the Mahatmas ,1920
Group VI, Evolution, No. 9,” from 1908.
Hilma af Klint, Altarbilder, Grupp X, nr 1. Altarbild, 1915.
Hilma af Klint, Serie SUW/UW, Grupp IX/UW, nr 25. Duvan, nr 1, 1915.
Hilma af Klint's painting style was very avant-garde for her time. Her paintings, which are usually large in size, were bright and bold. The paintings are filled with mystical symbols of the spirit, seemingly completely free from the material world. It's clear that they were influenced by the theosophy that she studied.
Hilma af Klint的绘画风格在当时非常前卫。她的画风格色彩明亮大胆，且通常画幅巨大。画里面充满了象征人类精神的各种神秘主义符号，似乎已经完全摆脱了物质世界，很显然这受到她所研究的唯灵论、见神论、神智论的影响。
Since 1896, Hilma af Klint and four of her female artist friends have formed a group called “The Five”. They are dedicated to studying the Jewish and Christian scriptures with the aim of reaching out to life beyond the visible world. This group had a huge influence on Hilma af Klint's later artworks, as she claimed to be able to communicate with the spirit and soul. In addition, the two experiences of painting in temples and making drawings for animals are also reflected in her paintings, and she has maintained her attention to spirit and nature throughout her career.
1896年开始，Hilma af Klint和她的四个女艺术家朋友组成了一个名为The Five的组织。她们致力于研究犹太教和基督教的圣经，目的是接触存在于可见世界之外的生命，这对Hilma af Klint后来的创作影响巨大，她声称自己能与灵魂和精神交流。除此之外，为寺庙绘画和制作动物图纸的两段经历也一样体现在她的画作中，她的整个职业生涯中都保持了对精神与自然的关注。
“Group IX/SUW, The Swan, No. 17,” from 1915.
Hilma af Klint, Untitled Series: group IV, the Ten Largest, No. 7, Adulthood ,1907.
Hilma af Klint, The Evolution, No. 7, 1908.
In Hilma af Klint's view, her works were way ahead of their time and the audience wasn't ready for them. At her own request, her work could not be exhibited even after her death. One consequence of this is that although Hilma af Klint's earliest abstract drawing work predated Wassily Kandinsky's first abstract work by five years, she was largely forgotten after her death。
在Hilma af Klint看来，自己的作品思维太过超前，当时的观众还没有准备好接受它们。在她本人的要求下，她的作品甚至在其过世后都不能被展出。这也导致了一个后果：虽然Hilma af Klint最早的抽象作品比Wassily Kandinsky的第一幅抽象作品还要早五年，但是她死后几乎就被世人所遗忘。
She was not rediscovered until these years, especially in 1987, when her work received great attention when it appeared in a special exhibition on idealism and abstractions at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Because her abstract paintings were so numerous and impactful, the art history had to be rewritten.
直到这些年，尤其是1987年，她的作品出现在洛杉矶县艺术博物馆(Los Angeles County Museum of Art)关于唯心主义和抽象主义的专题展览上并获了巨大的关注，她才重新被人们发现。由于她的抽象画作数量众多且冲击力极强，艺术史也要因此被改写。
Art critic and historian Julia Voss quipped that Hilma af Klint would make such a difference in art history that some would say it was better to keep her out.
艺术评论家和历史学家茱莉亚•沃斯(Julia Voss)戏称：Hilma af Klint会在艺术史上引起如此大的变化，以至于有些人会说最好把她留在（艺术史）外面。
Installation view of Hilma af Klint’s “The Dove” paintings.
希尔玛·柯林特的《鸽子》绘画装置视图。
Installation view of Hilma af Klint's "The Ten Largest."
希尔玛·阿夫·克林特的“十最”大型绘画装置视图。
To some extent, the rediscovery of Hilma af Klint also reflects the changing of the times. In the previous two centuries, the status of female artists was easily underestimated. The re-affirmation of Hilma af Klint's artistic status is undoubtedly a remedy and progress of the times.
某种程度上，Hilma af Klint的重新被发现也反映了时代特征的变迁。在之前的两个世纪里，女性艺术家的地位容易受到低估。而对于Hilma af Klint艺术地位的重新确认，无疑是一种弥补和时代的进步。
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