In a new interview with Hyperallergic, Erik Af Klint, chairman of the Hilma, Klint Foundation and the greatest of the artist, doubled his point of view that the oeuvre of the Late Swedish artist must be completely removed from institutional and commercial curation.
With reference to a clause in one of the foundation of the foundation, Erik initially told the Swedish news exit Days nyheter That Hilma’s creations cannot be classified as works of art, but rather as transcripts of its communication with the spiritual world, with the argument that they must be kept in a temple, only open to spiritual seekers that meet the criteria established by the foundation.
In a phone call with Hyperallergic This weekend Erik also pointed out the Fourth status Implemented by his grandfather (Hilma’s cousin), who inherited the work of the artist and developed the foundation in 1972 to limit it. Translated from Swedish, the status determines that the board of the foundation “must keep the work available for those looking for spiritual knowledge or who can contribute to fulfilling the mission that the spiritual guide of Hilma is in the future.”
The statute also states that “the board takes care of the work that is only available for persons who have a sympathetic attitude towards the purpose of the foundation and who do not abuse it.”
Erik, who became the chairman of the foundation only two years ago, said Hyperallergic The fact that “both parts of that section are equally important” notes that the second sentence of the statute indicates that Hilma’s legacy should only be available for a certain subset of people and not the general public.
“I can’t overlook the one or the other,” he continued. “That is what has been done for many years, but when they started selling socks and NFTs from Hilma’s art, it was just too much.”
In 2023, Erik has brought a lawsuit Against the other board members and the CEO of the Foundation, who accused them of the personally benefited from Hilma’s inheritance by licensing licensing that were beaten in NFTs and sold. (It is not immediately clear whether the lawsuit is progressing.) Last December, Erik also went against the other board members as the only different voice against a deal that David Zwirner would have made the representative gallery for the foundation, whereby the proposal would be the proposal as a “hostile takeover” that would contribute to the risk of Hilma’s “commercialization”. In February, He submitted a petition to the Stockholm court Require that all other board members must resign except him.
According to the rules of the foundation, the chairman of the board must be a descendant of the artist and a majority of the managers must be members of the Anthroposophical Society, who was very interested in besides other alternative spiritual movements in her life.
Although the Foundation may also consider the sale of certain works from the Funnel of Hilma’s 1,300 paintings by Hilma to finance the preservation of other works in the collection, Erik has denounced the sale of one of her works, in which they work together as the artist intended and should not be separated or commercialized.
“I am one against four board members and we are a democracy – if they vote for four, then I have to submit to that decision, even if it goes against the status,” Erik clarified. “So my only way to protect the articles of association is by going to the Swedish authorities and saying:” My board does not comply with the laws of the foundation. “
With regard to the complete pulling of her work from institutions and galleries, Erik said Hyperallergic that ‘for Hilma this is a sacred body of work, and She has written and sketched ideas herself‘For a spiral -shaped temple for her paintings after she was instructed by a spirit.
Submitted on the sidelines for his abstract and cross-spiritual subject, the legacy of Hilma came from the relative darkness after a historical exhibition 2018 in the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York, ensured that her paintings explode in popularity.
“I believe that there is a meaning in everything, so when God allowed Hilma to be viewed by the world in this way, there was a goal there,” Erik continued. “And the goal was to create interest. [there] Is nowhere else in the world, you can see it. ‘
In a statement shared via a spokesperson, Hilma Af Klint Foundation Board -members Ulf Wagner, Katarina de Voto, Juhani Selvani and Anders Kumlander said that the majority [of the board] believes that the art of Hilma AF Klint must be accessible to both the public and the researchers, ”and noted that the foundation started with an external research to investigate the opportunity to develop a permanent museum to accommodate Hilma’s creations.
“However, there have been discussions about the interpretation of the articles of association – the board has investigated this issue by experts for several years and has concluded that the text should be interpreted in a more contemporary context,” their statement continued.
Suppose the board has the final say on how the articles of association are interpreted, the managers said they are adhering to the aforementioned research and working to keep Hilma’s work available for those who want to see and learn – “just like the previous boards have done for us over the years.”
The board members did not comment on Erik’s recent petition and said that the foundation continues its work, despite the current debate.
