Rosettes in Gold

About this work

Flower-like rosettes open across a soft ground of pink and lilac. Around them, curling bands of coral and orange loop and turn, and golden spirals of raised gold leaf wind through the composition. Nothing is hard-edged here; the forms feel organic, as if they were still growing.

Hilma af Klint painted The Ten Largest in Stockholm in 1907, as part of her cycle The Paintings for the Temple. The ten canvases are more than three metres tall and trace the stages of human life, from childhood through youth and adulthood to old age. She made them years before abstract art had a name, and she kept much of her work out of public view; it reached a wide audience only decades after her death in 1944. Rosettes in Gold is a reimagining in gold, not a copy, and keeps her spirals and soft palette.

Gentle and full of life, it is lovely in a bedroom, a nursery or a pastel living room. Blush, lilac, warm white or pale grey walls let the coral glow without competing. For a set, combine it with The Golden Altarpiece, also after af Klint, and Composition in Red, Blue & Gold, which adds Piet Mondrian’s grid. The file prints sharply to about 76 cm on the long edge at 300 dpi.