Buddha’s Standpoint in the Earthly Life, No. 3a (1920 CE)

Hilma af Klint’s Buddha’s Standpoint in the Earthly Life, No. 3a is an abstract painting of quiet force and spiritual concentration. At first glance, the eye is drawn to a monumental circle divided into black and white halves, crossed by exact horizontal and vertical lines that turn the surface into something like a cosmic diagram. Painted in a restrained range of black, white, beige, and subtle metallic glints, the work feels at once ancient and startlingly modern, like a meditative mandala inviting reflection on duality, balance, and the path toward enlightenment.

A Late Return to the Life-Stages Theme

By 1920, af Klint was working independently, no longer under direct spirit guidance. In a period of personal reflection after the First World War, and as her interest in Eastern philosophies deepened, she chose to return to and expand the theme of life stages. She created four paintings in this group: Nos. 1a, 1b, 3a, and 3b. Although af Klint kept most of her abstract work private during her lifetime, and stipulated that it should not be shown publicly until twenty years after her death, these additions from 1920 carry a particularly reflective tone. Scholars believe she revisited the life-stages theme partly as a personal meditation during a time of global upheaval and private solitude. The Buddhist title of No. 3a is especially revealing. By 1920, af Klint had immersed herself in Theosophy, Anthroposophy, and Eastern thought, and she seems to have seen strong parallels between Buddhist teachings on illusion and suffering and her own esoteric diagrams of human development. The painting may thus be understood as a quiet visual homage to the Buddha’s Middle Way, a standpoint of balance within the oppositions of earthly life.

Abstraction Reduced to Clarity

Hilma af Klint is now widely recognized as one of the earliest artists in the Western world to create fully non-figurative abstraction, beginning as early as 1906. This work holds a distinctive place in her oeuvre because it shows her spiritual investigations condensed into an almost severe visual language. Where the original Ten Largest paintings unfold in vivid color and organic movement, this later work adopts a stark geometry of black and white, enriched only by faint metallic shimmer. The shift feels deliberate, as if complexity has been distilled into a more contemplative and disciplined clarity.

Between Opposites and Unity

The painting brings together Western esoteric traditions, including Theosophy, Rosicrucianism, and Christian mysticism, with ideas drawn from Eastern philosophy. The divided circle becomes a universal sign of paired opposites: samsara and nirvana, yin and yang, matter and spirit. In this sense, the work functions both as a diagrammatic thought-form and as a meditative image. Rather than simply presenting opposition, it invites the viewer to move beyond it, toward a higher unity that holds both halves in balance.

Canvas, Metallic Light, and Measured Form

The painting is executed in oil and metallic paint on canvas and measures 37 × 28 cm, or 14.57 × 11.02 inches. Its palette is dominated by black, white, and beige, with metallic gold or bronze accents that catch the light and create a restrained luminosity. At the center is a large circle divided into black and white hemispheres and crossed by precise horizontal and vertical lines that establish four quadrants. At the bottom, af Klint’s handwritten inscription, “Buddha’s Standpoint in the Earthly Life,” appears in her elegant script. The brushwork is controlled yet soft, giving the geometric forms a strangely living presence, as if they hold breath and stillness at once.

Kept in the Studio, Preserved by the Foundation

Hilma af Klint kept the entire Paintings for the Temple cycle, including the four additions from 1920, in her studio throughout her life. When she died in 1944, the works passed to her nephew, Erik af Klint. In accordance with her wishes, they remained largely unseen until the 1960s and 1970s, when interest in her work began to grow. In 1972, Erik af Klint founded the Hilma af Klint Foundation, which continues to own and preserve all of her works.