Hilma af Klint Descendant Opposes David Zwirner Gallery Deal

Descendants of the late Swedish abstract painter Hilma af Klint have voiced concerns over a potential deal between the foundation stewarding her artistic legacy and David Zwirner Gallery, citing the risk of “commercialization” of her work. Hilma af Klint Foundation Board Chair Erik af Klint, who is the artist’s great-grandnephew, called the deal a “hostile takeover,” as initially reported by the Guardian.

Of the five board members, Erik was the only one who voted against the proposal that would have made David Zwirner the foundation’s representing gallery. In 2022, Zwirner orchestrated the Glenstone Museum’s acquisition of Hilma’s eight-painting series Tree of Knowledge (1913–15) after staging its presentation at the gallery’s New York and London locations.

Statutes enshrined upon the foundation’s creation in 1972 outline that the 193 works in af Klint’s Paintings for the Temple (1906–1915) series cannot be sold or dispersed at any point, but works created from 1916 to her untimely death in 1944 may be sold after consideration in order to finance the preservation of the 1,300 pieces in the foundation’s care.

Erik and Johan af Klint, the artist’s grandnephew and former chairman of the foundation, told the Guardian that Hilma’s serial works had a spiritual dimension, unlike those of her colleagues and forthcoming abstractionists, and must thus be kept and viewed together as intended.

Deeply entwined with Theosophy, Anthroposophy, Rosicrucianism, occult practices, and mysticism, Hilma af Klint is widely considered a pioneer of abstraction in the visual arts thanks to her work’s geometric and biomorphic motifs, elements of the natural world, and juxtapositions of diagrammatic imagery with automatic mark-making. The artist rarely exhibited her work, determining that the world was not ready for her subject matter and practice, and she stipulated in her will that her paintings could only be showcased 20 years after her death.

“The paintings connect and to sell some within a series would interrupt that,” Erik told the Guardian, while Johan alleged that the potential deal is a “plundering of the foundation.”

David Zwirner rebutted the allegations, telling the outlet that there was “a power struggle within the board — we have a standoff between the four board members and one board member who is trying to sabotage them.”

In response to Hyperallergic’s request for comment, a spokesperson for David Zwirner Gallery said that it was currently in “advanced discussions” with the foundation to represent the artist’s estate and “establish a long-term partnership aimed at further expanding Hilma af Klint’s global legacy.”

The spokesperson also noted that new research and publications surrounding Hilma’s practice were in the works, including the forthcoming English translation of the Hilma af Klint and Wassily Kandinsky: Dreams of the Future catalogue in 2025.

Af Klint’s descendants have been at odds with the commercialization of her work in recent years. In 2022, Johan and the artist’s great-grandniece, Hedvig Ersman, vocally opposed the creation and sale of 162 NFTs from the Paintings for the Temple series, despite the foundation having a non-commercial agreement with one of the entities collaborating on the project.

The Hilma af Klint Foundation has not yet responded to Hyperallergic‘s inquiries.