Family of pioneering artist fear 'plundering' of her works

The family of the Swedish artist Hilma af Klint claim a potential agreement between a leading gallerist and the foundation responsible for preserving her work could lead to a "plundering" of her early 20th century abstract pieces.

- Lanre Bakare

They fear a deal with David Zwirner will open the door to the "commercialisation" of her work, which they say directly contravenes her wishes and the statutes of the foundation.

"This is a hostile takeover," said Erik af Klint, who is the great-grand-nephew of af Klint and also chairs the board, whose four other members are backing the deal. "The first paragraph of the statutes says the board needs to 'care' for the work and now they're selling it off."

A battle for control of the foundation, which was set up almost 30 years after the artist's death in 1944, has raged over the past few years with legal cases in Sweden and accusations of attempts to cash in on the relatively recent success of a painter who was largely unknown until the 1980s.

Born in 1862, af Klint graduated from the Royal Academy of Arts in Stockholm in 1887 as a traditional landscape, portrait and botanical painter. But by 1906 - before the rise of Kandinsky, Malevich or Mondrian - she was producing ground-breaking abstract pieces.