**The Convergence of Art and Science: Hilma af Klint and Thomas Young’s Common Geometry**
In 2019, astronomer Britt Lundgren visited the Guggenheim Museum in New York City to see an exhibition showcasing the works of Swedish artist Hilma af Klint. While she appreciated the abstract geometric forms in af Klint’s creations, Lundgren recognized a remarkable similarity to the scientific illustrations found in physicist Thomas Young’s 1807 *Lectures on Natural Philosophy and the Mechanical Arts*. This realization ignited a four-year research journey, culminating in an upcoming paper in the journal *Leonardo*, which investigates the possible ties between af Klint’s artworks and Young’s scientific diagrams.
### Hilma af Klint: A Trailblazer of Abstract Art
Hilma af Klint (1862–1944) was a Swedish artist who received formal education at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Stockholm. Initially, she concentrated on conventional themes such as portraits, landscapes, and botanical illustrations, which afforded her financial security. Nonetheless, her genuine artistic enthusiasm resided in the realms of spiritualism and mysticism. Af Klint was part of “The Five,” a collective of Swedish female artists who held seances and were inspired by theosophical ideas. These spiritual endeavors propelled af Klint to engage in automatic drawing and to create a distinct geometric visual language that represented the unseen forces she believed influenced reality.
In 1906, at the age of 44, she produced her inaugural abstract series, which came before the abstract works of artists like Wassily Kandinsky and Piet Mondrian. However, she seldom exhibited these revolutionary pieces, feeling that the contemporary art scene was unprepared for them. In her will, she requested that her abstract creations remain concealed for no less than 20 years following her passing. When her collection of over 1,200 paintings was eventually unveiled, their importance wasn’t immediately acknowledged. Today, af Klint is recognized as a forerunner of abstract art, with prominent exhibitions, including her American premiere at the Guggenheim, which set attendance records.
### Thomas Young: The Mind Behind the Diagrams
Thomas Young (1773–1829) was a versatile intellectual whose work encompassed areas like physics, optics, and linguistics. He is most renowned for his double-slit experiment, which illustrated the wave characteristics of light. His 1807 *Lectures on Natural Philosophy and the Mechanical Arts* contained intricate diagrams depicting the properties of light, color theory, and geometric concepts. These diagrams, characterized by their abstract and symmetrical designs, closely parallel af Klint’s artworks, especially her *Swan* and *Dove* series.
### A Pandemic Initiative: Bridging Art and Science
Lundgren’s fascination with af Klint was partially shaped by her Swedish roots and her upbringing in a family that appreciated art—her mother was an art historian, while her father was both a photographer and carpenter. After attending the Guggenheim exhibit, Lundgren set out to investigate the connections between Young’s diagrams and af Klint’s geometric artworks, particularly those produced between 1914 and 1916. The COVID-19 lockdowns offered her the ideal chance to immerse herself in this interdisciplinary investigation.
Lundgren’s first action was to approach art educators at her institution to validate her insights. Motivated by their encouragement, she delved into extensive research on af Klint and found no previous mentions of Young’s impact in existing academic literature. This absence motivated her to aim for publication, even though her paper initially faced rejections from art history journals due to her outsider status. With the aid of Linda Dalrymple Henderson, a scholar focused on art and science intersections, Lundgren refined her manuscript and succeeded in submitting it to *Leonardo*.
### Assembling the Evidence: Circumstantial Links
Though af Klint and Young were not contemporaries—Young passed away in 1829, and af Klint was born in 1862—there are feasible means by which af Klint might have encountered Young’s work. She had a recognized interest in the sciences, including physics, evolution, and color theory. Her personal library featured an 1823 astronomy book, and in 1910, she was asked to create a portrait of Swedish physicist Knut Ångström. Ångström’s university library contained a copy of Young’s *Lectures*, hinting that af Klint could have had access to this material.
Additionally, Young’s *Lectures* contained a speculative idea regarding a universal ether, a concept that intrigued both scientists and spiritualists during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. This notion was referenced in *Unseen Universe* (1875), a spiritualist work that influenced Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, the founder of the Theosophical Society. Blavatsky’s philosophies, in turn, significantly shaped af Klint’s spiritual and artistic outlook.
Lundgren underscores specific similarities between Young’s diagrams and af Klint’s.
