Thanks for the comment, glad you’re enjoying my pieces for Signifier!
Yes, Hilma Af Klint definitely contributed to the development of abstract art, absolutely right. I have discussed her work many times in art history classes, thanks for reminding me.
For me, though, her work tends to employ a lot of recognisable iconography such as magical and alchemical sigils, numbers, flower forms, and so on. Some are clearly inspired by Goethe’s 1810 Treatise on Colour, also known to have informed Kandinsky’s theories. Others are constructed according to mathematical composition, more akin to ‘infographics’ than pure abstraction…
I don’t think any artist creates ‘in a bubble’ and Kandisnky was building on the trends of the time, and groundwork already laid out by the likes of Victor Hugo, who produced pure abstracts decades earlier. I did manage to give a little ‘nod’ to Annie Besant, also often overlooked as a pioneer of the abstract, perhaps because of her gender?
Your qualifying statement, ‘well-rounded read,’ is very much appreciated. Thank you!
I wrote an earlier article for Signifier touching upon gendered art history:
