Abstract art has been around since the beginning of the twentieth century. Hilma af Klint, along with Wassily Kandinsky, were the first painters to devote their artistic careers to the practice of abstract art. Hilma was a Swedish artist and mystic who is considered to be one of the pioneers of abstract art. She was born in 1862 and studied at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Stockholm. She was also interested in spiritualism and Theosophy and participated in séances with a group of women called "The Five". She believed that her paintings were inspired by higher beings who communicated with her through her mediumship. She created hundreds of paintings and drawings that were mostly kept hidden from the public until after her death in 1944. Her work was rediscovered in the 1980s and has since gained recognition and appreciation from the art world. Her 2018 show at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum’s exhibition “Hilma Af Klint: Paintings for the Future” was the most-visited exhibition in the museum’s 60-year history.

Wassily Kandinsky was a Russian-born artist who is widely regarded as one of the pioneers of abstract art. He was born in 1866 and studied law and economics at the University of Moscow before moving to Munich to pursue his artistic career. According to some sources, Kandinsky saw Monet’s haystacks painting in 1895 when he visited an exhibition of French impressionists in Moscow. He was fascinated by Monet’s use of color and light, and he realized that painting could go beyond depicting reality. He later wrote that Monet’s haystacks were “the first impressionist picture that had a really powerful impact on me” and that they "made me suddenly realize that painting has a life of its own.' He believed that art should express inner feelings and emotions rather than imitate external reality. He experimented with different forms, colors, and symbols to create his own abstract language of painting.

I’ve always been fascinated by abstract art with its ability to move the viewer through the use of shapes, forms, and color. It was said that when people viewed Mark Rothko’s paintings it would bring tears to their eyes. 

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