Hilma af Klint. Pioneer of abstract art. : Three Hilma af Klint exhibitions. What messages do they convey about her abstract modernistic style? Are there any evident differences?

Hilma af Klint (1862 -1944) is now recognized internationally as a pioneer within abstract art. For more than 40 years after her death her rich portfolio of abstract paintings were hidden from the public, 20 of those years based on her own will. Her abstract artwork was first exhibited at Los Angeles County Museum of Art 1986 together with art by established abstract painters. This was followed by two major exhibitions at the Moderna Museet, Stockholm 1989 - 1990 and 2013 respectively. Five years later the Guggenheim Museum in New York presented the exhibition Hilma af Klint: Paintings for the Future to a record number of visitors. The aim of the thesis is to study how Hilma af Klint has been presented at Moderna Museet and the Guggenheim Museum. What are the key messages, is she seen as a modernist or an abstract pioneer and has this view changed over the almost thirty years from 1989 to 2018? The results show that the first exhibition at Moderna Museet displayed the discovery of Hilma af Klint’s amazing paintings, but her occult involvement raised questions if she could be regarded as an artist. Fourteen years later the Moderna Museet presents another large retrospective exhibition, but now with the title Abstract pioneer and the acceptance of Hilma af Klint as an abstract pioneer. The exhibition at Guggenheim Museum 2018 confirms her position as an icon within abstract art. Hilma af Klint is best known for her fantastic Paintings for the Temple and other beautiful abstract work composed in a number of series with different themes incorporating geometric forms, a rich palette of colors, with single words or short sentences and symbolism