- Hilma af Klint: Artist and Visionary is the first major exhibition of the artist’s work in Ireland.
- The exhibition is funded as part of the Culture Programme for Ireland’s EU Presidency 2026.
- Art, Migration and the Politics of Belonging events run from September 14 to 20.
- Culture Night takes place on September 18 with Painting Mirror and curator-led tours.
- The Sarah Cecilia Harrison Essay Prize closes on September 18.
The National Gallery of Ireland has opened Hilma af Klint: Artist and Visionary, featuring paintings, drawings and watercolours in the first major exhibition dedicated to the Swedish abstract painter’s work in Ireland. Developed in partnership with the Hilma af Klint Foundation, the exhibition is organised in collaboration with the foundation and presented by Key Capital at 25, with tickets ranging from free to €16 and under 18s going free. The exhibition is funded as part of the Culture Programme for Ireland’s Presidency of the Council of the European Union 2026.
The Education Department partners with Maynooth University and HIDDEN to host a week of events exploring citizenship, identity, migration, language and representation from September 14 to 20, culminating in a public symposium on September 18. The Arbitrary Nations installation by contemporary artist Asbestos features alongside a Library and Archive Display on migration and citizenship themes, a film screening of Aisha, and performances by world music collective Citadel. Culture Night on September 18 includes Painting Mirror in collaboration with the French Embassy in Ireland, curator-led tours, harp performances, and screen-printing workshops.
The Gallery offers regular programming including Mindfulness Tours, Talk and Tea discussions of Rembrandt to Matisse, Drawing the Collection tours, and Family Tours. Online events include Let’s Get Creative workshops, Ciorcal Comhrá in Irish language, and an eight-week Art Appreciation Course. The Sarah Cecilia Harrison Essay Prize closes on September 18, recognising research and writing on women and Ireland’s visual culture.
Hilma af Klint
Swedish artist and mystic Hilma af Klint (1862–1944) is known for monumental, symbol-filled abstract works predate those of commonly recognized male pioneers like Wassily Kandinsky and Piet Mondrian.
She studied at the Technical School in Stockholm and later graduated with honors from Sweden’s Royal Academy of Fine Arts in 1887, mastering traditional landscape and portrait painting. In 1896, she and four other female artists, known was the Five” (De Fem): formed a spiritualist circle that held regular séances, practiced automatic drawing, and sought contact with higher spiritual guides known as the “High Masters”.
Growing up around Karlberg Palace and spending summers on Adelsö island, she developed a deep fascination with botany, organic growth patterns, and science. She claimed to have been commissioned by spiritual entities starting in 1906, to create a massive 193-piece cycle was designed for a future temple and represented the duality of the material and spiritual worlds. A famous series of monumental canvases, The Ten Largest (1907), depict the human life cycle from childhood to old age using vibrant geometric and organic shapes.
Believing the contemporary art world was not ready for her esoteric vision, she stipulated in her will that her more than 1,200 abstract works remain hidden for 20 years after her death. Her work finally gained international acclaim following major retrospectives in the late 20th and early 21st centuries, completely reshaping the history of modern art.
The upcoming exhibition Hilma af Klint: Artist and Visionary at the National Gallery of Ireland will feature 79 works spanning from the 1880s to the 1930s, including iconic spiritual masterpieces like The Swan (1915) and her monumental Altarpieces (1915). Running from October 15, 2026, to February 7, 2027, this marks Ireland’s first major survey of the pioneering Swedish abstract artist and mystic.
- Major Abstract Pieces: Headlined by Group X, No. 1, Altarpiece (1915) and The Swan, The SUW Series, Group IX: Part I, No. 17 (1915).
- An Apocalyptic Map: A highly unique, late career map of Great Britain.
- Early Academic Work: Traditional portraits and early landscapes.
- Studies of Nature: Intricate botanical plant studies and watercolours.
- Late Watercolours: Visionary works from her later, highly spiritual years.
The exhibition will be in rooms 6–10, National Gallery with tickets ranging from €0 to €16 (under 18s and Gallery Friends enter free).A dedicated Thursday Lates celebratory event will take place on October 29, 2026.
Curator Janet McLean shred, “this will mark the first major exhibition dedicated to the artist in Ireland, and will feature works dating from the 1880s to the 1930s.”
