Art through the Aether

Would you believe me if I told you that these paintings were made in 1904? It blows my mind. They are are considered to be the first abstract paintings ever created. The artist, Hilma Af Klint, stipulated in her will that the paintings could not be exhibited until 20 years after her death because she didn't feel that people were ready to understand her work yet. Smart move, seeing as this may have saved them from being purged by Nazis or whatever (she died in 1944 at the age of 81).

Her work is on display here in Berlin and I finally got to check it out yesterday. It felt like it was more a religious experience than an art experience, but maybe that's because I knew prior to seeing them that she had collaborated with disembodied spirits to create them. How cool is that??