GUGGENHEIM MUSEUM’S HILMA AF KLINT EXHIBITION DRAWS RECORD NUMBER OF VISITORS

The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum has announced that “Hilma af Klint: Paintings for the Future”—the United States’ first major solo show of work by the Swedish artist—is the most popular exhibition in its history. The show has attracted more than 600,000 visitors since its opening in October 2018.

The museum also reported that membership has increased by 34 percent since the exhibition opened and that more than 30,000 copies of the catalogue have been sold, surpassing the previous record set by the 2009 catalogue Kandinsky. Hilma af Klint–inspired merchandise has also been flying off the shelves of the Guggenheim Store and has accounted for 42 percent of its total sales over the course of the show.

In a review of the exhibition for the January 2019 issue of Artforum, Jennifer Krasinski wrote: “At the age of forty-four, she turned her attention away from the material world and devoted herself wholly to mystical realms. Her hand found its true purpose: to make visible what the eye cannot see, to communicate esoteric knowledge without betraying it or distorting it with earthly references. Thereafter, af Klint became one of the most singular, yet least known, painters of the twentieth century.”

Featuring more than 170 paintings and works on paper, the exhibition closes on Tuesday, April 23. During the final days the show will be on display, the Guggenheim will be open for extended hours, from 10 AM to 8 PM, from Friday, April 19 through Tuesday, April 23.