Description

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The first children’s picture book on Hilma af Klint and her pioneering work.

Hilma af Klint (1862–1944) began painting her abstract and highly symbolic images as early as 1906, long before Kandinsky and Malevich arrived at what has generally been regarded as the birth of modern abstract art. She was heavily influenced by spiritual ideologies and claimed that she painted on instruction from the spirit world, for the future. Until recently overlooked by art historians, she is now lauded around the world, and was the subject of the highest-attended single exhibition in the Guggenheim’s history, Hilma af Klint: Paintings for the Future.

This book is not only about Hilma af Klint’s art, but also about the magic that surrounded her. Brimming with quality reproductions of the artist’s work and with illustrations by Karin Eklund, it will appeal to all children wanting to learn more about the enchanting life and work of this groundbreaking artist.

About the Author

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Ylva Hillström is a curator at the Modern Art Museum in Stockholm. She was involved in the major Hilma af Klint exhibition in Stockholm in 2013.

Karin Eklund has an MA in children’s book illustration from the Cambridge School of Art. She wrote and illustrated the book Kids Yoga, which was long-listed for the CILIP Carnegie Medal in 2018.

Praise For…

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"Introduces young readers to a long-obscure spiritualist painter who has only recently been recognized as a pioneering abstract artist... Eklund’s appropriately pale, ghostly scenes of an otherworldly figure practicing her art or gazing intensely inward are interspersed with 15 reproductions of actual works, an interpretive chart of select symbols and colors in af Klint’s art, and a tantalizing suggestion that viewers may find meanings of their own in their mysterious shapes and spaces... A significant contribution to the history of women artists."
— Kirkus Reviews

A wild ride [that] pulls readers into the story making them yearn to discover more about this spiritual, artistic young woman… A welcome and riveting tale of an often overlooked artist, interesting enough to engage any age, from elementary to high school.
— School Library Journal (starred review)