A pale gold disc on black, rayed from a single point

A single luminous disc of pale cream and gold fills the black square, its surface faintly striated as though brushed outward from the centre. From a point just below the middle, three narrow wedges of colour open into it — a pale rose spreading upward, a soft violet and a clear yellow spreading down — the only chromatic events in the whole painting. Number fourteen of af Klint's Swan series, painted in 1915, by which point the swans themselves have dissolved and only the geometry of their union remains.

Hilma af Klint (1862–1944) painted the first Western abstract canvases in 1906 — years before Kandinsky, Mondrian or Malevich — as messages received in séance, guided by beings she called the High Masters. Convinced the world was not ready, she forbade their exhibition until twenty years after her death. They were not properly shown until 1986, and have since rewritten the history of modern art.

Printed as a museum-grade giclée on Hahnemühle fine art paper using 12-ink archival pigment printing. Available handframed in FSC-certified wood with optional float glass, or unframed. Ships worldwide with free delivery to 30+ countries.