Hilma af Klint and The Five’s Sketchbooks:
No. S2, S6 and S13: 5 October 1896–10 January 1906

Hilma af Klint (1862–1944) was a pioneer of modern abstract art who turned away from the visible, physical world to embrace a spiritual reality in both her life and work. In 1896, together with Anna Cassel (1860–1937), Cornelia Cederberg (1854–1933), Sigrid Hedman (1855–1922) and Mathilda Nilsson (1844–1923), af Klint left the Edelweiss Society―a group which combined Christian concepts with ideas of Theosophy and Spiritualism―and established The Five. The all-female group, which met every Friday in Stockholm to practice group meditations and séances, believed they could channel mystic beings whom they called the High Masters, with names such as Amaliel, Ananda and Gregor. In trancelike states, the women transcribed the messages from these High Masters via automatic writings and drawings into a series of shared sketchbooks, resulting in a kaleidoscope of collective and raw work that is firmly rooted in the spiritual realm.