Hilma af Klint’s globally renowned paintings will no longer be displayed to the general public and will only be accessible to ”spiritual seekers”. This is the position of Erik af Klint, chairman of the foundation that owns the works. He is now taking legal action to enforce his vision. ”This would lead to major protests across the art world,” says German art critic Julia Voss. People all over the world are drawn to Hilma af Klint. Millions have seen the Swedish national icon's paintings. But that should never have happened, according to Erik af Klint. ”It's not about what I want, it's about what the statutes of the foundation dictate.” Erik af Klint is chairman of the Hilma af Klint Foundation, which owns and manages the artist's more than 1,300 paintings. Erik af Klint, who is the head of the noble family af Klint, has previously stayed out of the running of the foundation but took up the post two years ago. He differs from his predecessors on one particularly crucial point: he wants to follow the foundation's statutes to the letter. They state that the work should be accessible to ”those who seek spiritual knowledge”. Or, to anyone who can help ”fulfill the mission” intended by Hilma af Klint's ”spiritual guides”. Not just anyone may view the paintings, says Erik af Klint. Because what Hilma af Klint created is not art. ”It is a message from the spirit world. Period.” If Erik af Klint has his way, and his interpretation of the statutes is followed, the opportunity to see Hilma af Klint's work will be severely restricted. Exhibitions will, in practice, cease. ”When a religion ends up in a museum, it is dead. This is not meant to be public. The exhibitions, the books, the pictures, the carpets, the socks - none of that is allowed.” The fact that Hilma af Klint's paintings even reached the general public to begin with is a violation of the statutes and thus of the Swedish Foundation Act, he says. Recently, Erik af Klint filed a petition with the Stockholm District Court: all members of the foundation's board - except for himself - must resign. Alongside a number of previous board members, they have profited from Hilma af Klint's success, according to Erik af Klint. For many years, the work of the Hilma af Klint Foundation has been marked by conflict. According to the statutes, the board must consist of a majority of members who are members of the Anthroposophical Society. One controversial issue is that the four anthroposophists currently on the board want to permit the sale of paintings. Something Erik af Klint has opposed. Consultant Varg Gyllander is the spokesperson for both the Hilma af Klint Foundation - which also includes Erik af Klint - and for some of the anthroposophical members. He says that the members of the board see the chairman's demands in the district court as an attempt to delay and sabotage their work. ”The claim that only a select few people may view the art is a gross misinterpretation of the statutes, the will of the founder and Hilma's intentions”, says Varg Gyllander. German Julia Voss is the author of a biography of Hilma af Klint and works as a curator at the National History Museum in Berlin. Closing the door to the exhibitions would be both completely absurd and hardly feasible, she says. ”It would be an unimaginable loss. It would lead to major protests across the art world.” She describes Hilma af Klint as an ”asteroid” that crashed into and changed the international art scene. In the US, she is a phenomenon - ”people there are crazy” about the Swedish artist, says Julia Voss. ”How would one even reasonably determine who is a 'spiritual seeker' or not? It is absolutely unimaginable. I don't think this is what Hilma herself would have wanted, and I wonder how many in the af Klint family actually support the demand. After all, their members have themselves, for many years, been committed to Hilma af Klint's art being exhibited.” According to Erik af Klint, the board of the Hilma af Klint Foundation will decide who can be considered to meet the criteria of spiritual seekers. ”It must be a spiritual seeking in line with Hilma's. It cannot be spiritual seeking in the way of a Muslim or a Hindu.” DN: Thousands of people who wish to see Hilma af Klint’s art would be excluded if your vision is realized. What is your view on that? ”That’s not true. I cannot take back every book or poster that people have bought. What’s done is done. But the original paintings should be kept in one place and only displayed to spiritual seekers.” In reality, however, Erik af Klint has little power to enforce his vision, as no other board member shares his stance. Erik af Klint has made several previous attempts to get the authorities to listen. He has reported board members to both the Swedish Economic Crime Authority and the County Administrative Board, which is the supervisory authority for the foundation. Without result. ”I hope that some authority will eventually intervene and declare that enough is enough. But they will not answer my questions.” Erik af Klint wants the paintings to reside in a temple. A temple is for the faithful, he says. ”What is happening now in the Stockholm District Court is the beginning of a final battle,” says Erik af Klint. He believes it will be settled within six months, and lists some possible outcomes: Either he resigns and allows another family member to continue the fight, or the anthroposophists step down, enabling him to proceed as he believes the founder intended. ”That would be fantastic.”