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The Arts Intel Report

A Cultural Compass
For the World Traveler
A Cultural Compass
For the World Traveler

Hilma af Klint: The Secret Paintings

June 12 – Sept 19, 2021
Art Gallery Rd, Sydney NSW 2000, Australia

“The pictures were painted directly through me, without any preliminary drawings, and with great force.” These are the words of the Swedish artist Hilma af Klint, who died in 1944 with almost no recognition for her significant contribution to Western art. In 1906, she began painting her monumental works—revolutionary in their scale, vibrancy of color, and level of abstraction. Highly spiritual in nature, Klint’s work finally achieved wide appreciation in 2019, when a landmark show at the Guggenheim Museum in New York exhibited her “secret paintings,” vast pastel canvases that had been hidden from the public for decades. More than 100 of her works are now heading down under, allowing southern-hemisphere visitors a chance to discover Klint’s unprecedented oeuvre. —Sabina Vitale

Photo: David Heald.