Mondrian and Hilma af Klint: Painting the Invisible

Can a painting reveal something about the world that our eyes cannot see?

In 1906, a Swedish artist began creating extraordinary abstract paintings that would remain largely hidden from the public for decades. Meanwhile, a Dutch landscape painter was embarking on a journey that would eventually lead him to a world of black lines, white squares and primary colours.

For Hilma af Klint, painting became a means of exploring a spiritual reality beyond ordinary perception. For Piet Mondrian, it offered a path towards universal harmony through increasingly simplified forms and colours. Working independently, these two remarkable artists arrived at radically different forms of abstraction, united by a conviction that art could reveal something beyond appearances.

Inspired in part by Tate Modern’s acclaimed 2023 exhibition Hilma af Klint & Piet Mondrian: Forms of Life, Rose explores their extraordinary ideas and the surprising story of how abstract painting emerged through more than one path.