What a Human Being Is
- Artist
- Hilma af Klint
- Date
- c.1910
- Style
- Symbolism
- Genre
- Symbolic painting
'What a Human Being Is' is a Symbolic painting that explores the spiritual and metaphysical aspects of human existence, reflecting principles of anthroposophy. Rooted in a tradition that seeks to access an objective, intellectually comprehensible spiritual world through inner discovery, the artwork embodies the use of symbolism to depict the multifaceted nature of human consciousness beyond sensory experience. While proponents claim to pursue precision akin to scientific inquiry, critics often classify such spiritual ideas as pseudoscientific. The painting invites viewers to contemplate the spiritual dimensions of being through a nuanced, symbolic visual language.
Related artworks
- La Plume Jaune by Jean Metzinger
- Waiting by Sabin Balasa
- Two Women by Beauford Delaney
- Neighbourly Advice by Leonora Carrington
- Lifting Fog, Laguna by Guy Rose
- Silence! Ici j’ordonne… (Nathalie Paley en sphinx) by Jean Cocteau
- Profile by Jean Cocteau
- LA SIBYLLE by Jean Cocteau
- Les Vestales by Jean Cocteau
- Incoming Tide by Guy Rose