Beyond the Visible - Hilma Af Klint

This documentary is proof that Hilma af Klint was a visionary. Her art demonstrates that she could innovate and create her path in the art world even with all the challenges presented. I'm glad her history is being told (as in this magnificent documentary), and hopefully, more women artists are recognized as fundamental characters of different art movements and thus art history.

I had never heard of Hilma af Klint prior to this documentary - I was blown away, both by her life story and her stunning, powerful art. The sound design, score, cinemaphotography and editing were excellent. I particularly liked the subtle atmospheres present in the sound design; half score half field recording. I heartily recommend seeing this.

'A thought crystallizes the universe into geometrical figures.'

A curious wanderer trying to unravel the secrets of this universe and share her findings with others through her art. Hilma af Klint has marveled nature and all of the surrounding, and has meticulously studied the wonders of it. Her curious and loving soul is present in all of her paintings. Not only was she, and remains to be, an amazing artist, but an extraordinary human being who I profoundly admire.

I had read a bit about Hilma af Klint, but like most people who saw the exhibit at the Guggenheim, I was stunned when I realized how powerful her works are in person. Still, I thought I basically knew her story, so when someone recommended this documentary to me, I put off watching it for a while. Well, I finally saw it, and was blown away a second time. The filmmaker did a marvelous job showing me all the things I didn't know about Hilma af Klint. I knew she was academically trained, but I didn't know how assiduously she worked in series and developed her subjects. I knew she was interested in theosophy, but I didn't know how significant its views on women were to her. I didn't know how connected she was to scientific thought about the makeup of the universe. I thought I had seen a lot of her works but there were more and more, many astonishing.

You might have to be seriously interested in art to get caught up in this story, and some people will find the pace too leisurely, but it was exactly what I thought suited the subject. The photography was gorgeous. The art-historical points were clearly made. The multilingual "talking heads" were all lively, interesting people with useful, entertaining contributions (stay tuned after the credits for an additional tidbit from one of them).

My only complaint was that I would have liked to see some discussion of other types of abstraction, and how they fit into af Klint's work: decorative household arts of Scandinavia, spiritual art of the middle east, etc. But I suppose one doc can't cover everything. This one did so much more than I expected that it earns high marks from me. I hope my review doesn't impact anyone else's enjoyment, by getting their hopes up too high, but I was so impressed that I had to come here and write something.

The movie is beautiful, suiting the beauty of Klint's work. It makes a convincing case that Klint was the first abstract painter of the modern era. The film is also usefully political, describing an art establishment that has never made room for women because only men possess "genius." The paintings here are integrated with the sublime natural environment that inspired them, to which Klint added her fascination with science (what we would now recognize as astrophysics, among other natural sciences), contrasts (men and women, black and white, heat and cold), and humanity, its past and future.

What we don't learn here, likely because of insufficient research to date, is the degree that contact with the spirit world, through Klint's seances, was in the mix of Klint's influences.

This movie is also blessedly free of "art talk." The marvelous commentators speak in plain language.

And the paintings themselves are too beautiful to miss.