Marina Smith and Ron Hanson

On January 1, 1906, during a séance in Stockholm, Hilma af Klint accepted a major commission from a spirit named Amaliel. The result was an astounding series of abstract paintings, created years before the conventionally understood beginnings of abstract art, typically associated with figures like Kandinsky and Mondrian. But after unsuccessful attempts to exhibit her works, af Klint instructed that they be locked away until twenty years after her death. Only in the new millennium would their significance be widely recognized.

Occult movements such as Spiritualism and Theosophy were instrumental in shaping af Klint’s vision, but she was far from alone. Many prominent artists of the era—including Kandinsky and Mondrian—engaged with occult ideas and practices as they rebelled against scientific materialism and sought to portray unseen forces. In this piece, Marina Smith and Ron Hanson explore the occult’s profound influence on modern art, the long suppression of this history, and its re-emergence as a subject of contemporary interest.