For the catalogue that was published alongside the exhibition Hilma af Klint & Piet Mondriaan. Forms of Life at Kunstmuseum Den Haag, artist Janice McNab wrote a text – part of her ongoing research about the work of af Klint – titled ‘The Beauty of Everyday Life‘.

In her text McNab focuses on her archival research around The Ten Largest (1907) a key peace in the oeuvre of Hilma af Klint, and describes the use of patterns and colours of Swedish folk textiles in these large panels. In her lecture, McNab will delve deeper into the vitalist roots of these patterns and how the specters of such pre-modern ideas haunt af Klint’s spiritually driven artistic research. The lecture will also explore the relevance of this research for today and connect it to the contemporary eco-vitalist ideas found in McNab’s own paintings.

Janice McNab is a Scottish artist and academic who has bee living in the Netherlands for over twenty years. Her new series Our Spectral Gardens can be seen in the Maurits van de Laar gallery in The Hague from October 12 to November 5. She is also Head MA Artistic Research at The Royal Academy of Art and has published various articles, including about the work of Af Klint.

This lecture will be in English. Register for the lecture through the website of Kunstmuseum Den Haag.