Hilma Af Klint's Atelier on Munsö

Hilma af Klint had her own studio (atelier) built on Munsö in 1917–1918, on a plot of land leased from Baron Giertta at the Bona entailed estate (fideicommiss). Munsö is located in Ekerö Municipality and is the last stop before a cable ferry now carries travelers across the water to the neighboring island of Adelsö.

Before she had her own atelier built, Hilma af Klint worked in several different studios in central Stockholm: first in  Ateljébyggnaden (The Studio Building) alongside the park Kungsträdgården, then on the ground floor of the house where she lived at Brahegatan 52, and later at Eriksbergsgatan 44. Now, however, she finally had a studio of her own, which she would keep for the rest of her life.

The plot of land already had a white-rendered stone house, built in 1905 and known as "Villa Furuheim." The studio that Hilma af Klint commissioned was a wooden building. Unfortunately, no architectural drawings nor photographs of the studio have yet been found. Her nephew, Erik af Klint, described the building as follows:

"It was built with double wooden facade cladding and had two storeys. The lower level was a single, open studio space with a ceiling height of approximately 3.5 metres. In the center of the room stood the chimney stack with two tiled stoves, one on each side. The windows had curved frames, and the entrance consisted of double doors in a Gothic pointed-arch style, giving the impression of a church portal. A spiral staircase in one corner led to the upper floor. This level had two rooms, an entrance hall, and a kitchen. The inner room contained built-in sleeping alcoves. The furnishings were Spartan. There was also an exterior staircase leading to the upper floor."

The studio also served as a gathering place for the friends and collaborators with whom Hilma af Klint worked. She was officially registered as living here from 1918 until 1926, together with her lifelong companion and partner, Thomasine Andersson.

Thomasine had originally served as the nurse to Hilma af Klint's mother, Thilda, until her death in 1920.

In 1926, the two women moved to Uppsala, and later relocated to Skåne, in the South of Sweden, where they lived first in Helsingborg and then in Lund. After Thomasine's death in 1940, Hilma remained in Skåne for a while, until  she moved back to Stockholm during the summer of 1944.  She moved to the newly built suburb Djursholm, where she lived with her cousin Hedvig af Klint during the final months of her life. Throughout the years, she continued to return to Munsö during the summers to work in her studio, where she kept her paintings, sketches, and notebooks.

Hilma af Klint died in Djursholm on October 21 1944.

Because the property was part of the Bona entailed estate, it reverted to the estate upon her death. The family was given three months to clear the studio of Hilma af Klint's belongings. During the late autumn, all of her paintings and notebooks were inventoried, and over Christmas 1944–1945 everything was packed into specially made wooden crates. These were transported to Adelsö and later to Stockholm, where they were placed for long-term storage in the attic of an apartment building on Karlavägen. Hilma af Klint herself had expressed the wish that her collected works should not be shown to the public until at least 20 years after her death.

Sometime toward the end of January 1945, the studio was demolished. The stone house, Villa Furuheim, once again stood alone on the property.

Today, nothing remains of the original studio—although it is maybe possible to discern traces of its foundations in the grass in front of Villa Furuheim. A few years later, the af Klint family sold the land they previously owned on Adelsö. Today, only the family grave at Adelsö Church remains as a tangible reminder of Hilma af Klint and her family's presence on Adelsö and Munsö.

There the story of the original studio comes to an end.

Hilma af Klint's studio on Munsö
Illustration from the movie "Beyond the Visible"
© Ambrosia film

Hilma af Klint's Atelier on Adelsö

Hilma af Klint (1862-1944) was by no means a well-known artist during her own lifetime. She worked largely in secret on the body of work for which she would later achieve posthumous recognition. The works she exhibited publicly consisted almost exclusively of the conventional paintings she also produced and from which she earned her living.

It was not until 1986, ie 42 years after her death, that her so-called abstract works were included in a major international exhibition, marking the beginning of the journey toward the worldwide recognition she enjoys today.

The Association Hilma af Klint's Atelier was founded as a private initiative in 2021.

The Association's long-term goal is to one day reconstruct a full-scale replica of the studio that Hilma af Klint had built on Munsö—hence the Association's name. For the time being, however, no decision has yet been made regarding the location where this reconstruction will be built.

The Association is a non-profit organization run entirely by volunteers. Membership is open to anyone.

In 2024, the Association was offered the opportunity to lease the former vicarage on Adelsö from Menhammar Estate on Ekerö.

The old vicarage was not part of the lands previously owned by the af Klint family on Adelsö. At the end of the nineteenth century, the parish priest on Adelsö was Gustaf Helleday, and he was married to one of Hilma af Klint's aunts, Florentina af Klint. The children who grew up here were therefore cousins of Hilma and her siblings. Despite the age difference between them, the cousins were close.

We can, therefore, confirm that Hilma af Klint actually did visit the vicarage during her life time. In her notebooks, she wrote in 1901:

"Later that autumn [1891], I once again had the opportunity to take part in psychographic sessions at Tofta on Adelsö. My cousin Gustaf Helleday's daughter and her cousin (...) attempted to operate the instrument. I had gone there to recover my health in the Helleday household, and through the psychograph I received the advice: Hilma should take greater care of her health, if Hilma wishes to become truly well."

In June 2025, the centre Hilma af Klint's Atelier opened to the public. During the summer months it hosts themed exhibitions, conferences, guided tours, retreats, painting courses, and book discussions. The Association also offers accommodation for visitors who wish to stay on Adelsö longer than a day trip allows.

Hilma af Klint's Atelier on Adelsö is a place where we tell the story of Hilma af Klint: we tell about her life, her work, and the world in which she lived. At the same time, it is a place where visitors and artists alike are invited to draw inspiration from what mattered most to her: the surrounding landscape, nature, spirituality, and painting.

In 2026, the Association inaugurated an annual artist-in-residence programme in collaboration with gallerists Carl and Katharine Kostyál. The American artist Brittney Leeanne Williams was the programme's first resident, living and working at the vicarage throughout the month of July. To support the residency, a dedicated artist's studio has been established in the immediate vicinity of the old vicarage

Hilma af Klint's Atelier on Adelsö
Located in the old vicarage on Adelsö