The 2018 exhibition at the Guggenheim Museum in New York, Hilma af Klint: Paintings for the Future, introduced the general public to the abstract mystical masterpieces of Swedish painter Hilma af Klint (1862-1944). Based on a seminar held at the Guggenheim Museum at the opening of this acclaimed exhibition, this volume compiles the insights of the seminar's contributors alongside reproductions of works, archival photographs and images from af Klint's journals.

Hilma af Klint: Visionary explores the social and spiritual movements that appeared at the turn of the 20th century, inspiring the pioneers of modernism and abstract art: Kandinsky, Mondrian, Malevich and af Klint. What was the zeitgeist that inspired such an eruption in abstract art? What were the conditions that created Hilma af Klint? Academics and experts Julia Voss, Tracey Bashkoff, Isaac Lubelsky, Linda Dalrymple Henderson and Marco Pasi each take a different approach. Voss analyzes af Klint's biography, pinpointing five important events in her life; Bashkoff presents her connection to Hilla Rebay and her plans for the building of a temple; Lubelsky traces the origins of theosophy in New York; Henderson examines the occult and science; and Pasi considers esotericism's changing role in culture.

Kurt Almqvist is President of the Axel and Margaret Ax:son Johnson Foundation for Public Benefit, where Louise Belfrage is a project manager. Daniel Birnbaum is the fomer Director of the Moderna Museet. Julia Voss is a Fellow at Lichtenberg-Kolleg, the G¿ttingen Institute of Advanced Studies. Tracey Bashkoff is Senior Curator, Collections and Exhibitions, at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. Isaac Lubelsky is Academic coordinator of genocide studies and India studies, Israeli Open University.Linda Dalrymple Henderson is Professor in Art History, University of Texas at Austin. Marco Pasi is Associate professor in the History of Hermetic Philosophy and related currents, University of Amsterdam.