In the manner of Hilma af Klint
Swedish, 1862–1944
Altarpiece for the Cloud, 2026
Tempera and oil on paper and canvas
300 × 240 cm
Never painted.
Commissioned for the collection, 2026.
PAB 2026.12.3
A triangle of rainbow bands rises from a pair of spirals at the base to a small golden sun at the top: symmetrical, serene, and a little like the beam of a projector. Af Klint's altarpieces climb in exactly this way, a pyramid of colour ascending towards the divine. The cloud has the same shape in every diagram of it, and roughly the same relationship to belief.
The brief
A triangle of stacked rainbow bands rising to a golden circle, small spirals at the base, symmetrical and serene. Early twentieth-century spiritual abstraction, large diagrammatic compositions of spirals, concentric circles, petals and snail shells in pale pink, egg yellow, sky blue and lilac on a cream ground, delicate line work with small lettering-like marks, symmetrical mystical schemas, tempera flatness with visible pencil underdrawing. Museum photograph of the painting on canvas, flat even lighting, no frame, no text, no wall, no floor, cropped to the canvas edge.
Written to the house rules. The painter's name does not appear.
Take it home
The painting on this room's wall, at its own proportions, nothing written on it.
