Tyra Kleen

Tyra Kleen was a Swedish painter, graphic artist, author, women’s rights activist, and mystic whose work influenced the Swedish fin-de-siècle art movement. Symbolist paintings, dramatic lithographs and (at a later date) colourful illustrations of dance (from Southeast Asia) characterise Kleen’s oeuvre. She was active in Karlsruhe, Munich, Paris, Rome, and Stockholm, introducing vital impulses from the continental symbolist movement into Swedish turn-of-the-century art (which had previously been overshadowed by the strong national romanticism of an older generation of artists).

On her death, Kleen left her house (on the island of Lidingö outside Stockholm) to Riddarhuset (the Swedish House of Nobility, a corporation, with its own palatial building, that maintains records and acts as an interest group on behalf of the Swedish nobility). According to the will, her home was to be rented out as a residence and studio for female artists. However, the house was sold in the 1970s. Kleen also left her remaining art to Riddarhuset. Her will stipulated that what remained of her artwork would not be exhibited until 50 years after her death. The material, which was made available to the public in 2001, consisted of sketches, drawings, paintings, prints and other artefacts. They also included photographs from her extensive travels abroad, as well as letters and diary entries made over a period of 60 years. The release of the material generated a newfound interest in Kleen, with a number of scholars emphasising the originality of her unique oeuvre. Several museum exhibitions followed, and today, more than ever, Kleen’s art is recognised for its merits.

Born into a wealthy aristocratic family, Kleen had the means to pursue a career in the arts. Being the daughter of a diplomat, Kleen also spent part of her childhood in different countries, where she picked up several languages and learnt about different cultures. At the age of 15 she moved to Dresden, Germany. Kleen studied painting in Karlsruhe, Germany (1892 - 1893), and the Academy of Fine Arts, Munich, Germany (1894). She then relocated to Paris, where she continued her studies at Académie Delecluse, Académie Colarossi, Académie Julian and Académie Vitti (1895 - 1897).

In France, Kleen devoted her work mainly to drawing, etching and lithography, held her first exhibition in Paris in 1896 and made her debut in illustration in 1897. Kleen initially painted plein air landscapes and Parisian café interiors, bearing the hallmarks of the realist style taught at the above academies. Around the turn of the century, however, her artistic style increasingly began to be influenced by the emerging continental movements: Art Nouveau, Jugend and, not least, Symbolism. Two of the painters whose work caught the attention of Kleen were Arnold Böcklin (1827–1901, Swiss symbolist painter), famous for his legendary painting Die Toteninsel / Isle of the Dead (executed in several versions, 1880 - 1886, which today are exhibited in Basel, New York City, Berlin and Leipzig) and Pierre Puvis de Chavannes (1824-1898) whose celebrated painting Le pauvre Pêcheur / The Poor Fisherman (1881, oil on canvas, 155 x 193 cm, Musée d’Orsay, Paris) Kleen copied at one point.

Another vital source of inspiration was the esoteric teachings gaining ground at this time. As an adolescent, Kleen felt as though she was an outsider, cut off from her social surroundings. She filled this existential void not only with her professional ambitions but also by exploring a spiritual world of myths and rituals, which led her to the theosophical mysticism of Annie Besant (1847–1933, English socialist, women’s rights activist, theosophist and freemason).

Seemingly always in search of new impulses and experiences, Kleen moved to Rome in 1898, where she joined a theosophical society, attending its meetings and lectures. The next ten years in Rome were spent mingling with the contemporary cultural elite, meeting, among others Anders Zorn (1860–1920, Swedish artist who attained international success as a painter, sculptor, and etching artist), Ellen Key (1849–1926, Swedish feminist writer on many subjects in the fields of family life, ethics and education as well as an important figure in the Modern Breakthrough movement), and Carl Milles (1875-1955, Swedish sculptor).

Extensive travelling followed, in 1910 to India and Ceylon and between 1919 and 1921 to Java and Bali (where she studied oriental dance, inspired by the performances of Mata Hari in Paris). The later trip was followed, in 1926, by a visit to Egypt (where she studied the meanings of the different hand and foot movements depicted in art). Kleen also visited the Caribbean and the United States (where she organised an exhibition in New York in 1917). To this could be added that she exhibited her work in Berlin, Vienna, Milan, Rome, Paris, London and St. Petersburg. As has been pointed out, Kleen was very well equipped in organising and networking using contacts and relatives in the world of diplomacy, freemasonry, theosophy, feminism and the local magistry. She excelled at becoming intimate with people who could be useful for her career.

From her diaries and letters, it is clear that Kleen was a colourful personality. Her whole life she stayed single, loving her freedom and hating to be dominated by either men or women. She was very ambitious and particular in travelling and doing business. She was also very productive and could work for hours, days and weeks to get results.

Tyra Kleen passed away in her home outside of Stockholm on the 17th of September, 1951.

Kleen is represented at, for instance, Nationalmuseum, Stockholm, and the Gothenburg Museum of Art, Gothenburg, Sweden. Archives from Kleen are also held by the Swedish National Museums of World Culture as well as by her family at the Valinge Estate in Jönåker, Nyköping, Sweden, where she spent her childhood years.

Recent exhibitions of her work include Tyra Kleen. Konstnär, vagabond, äventyrare at the Thiel Gallery, Stockholm (16 June - 23 September 2018); Painting and Spirituality. Hilma af Klint. Tyra Kleen. Lucie Lagerbielke at Millesgården, Stockholm (5 October 2019 - 9 February 2020); Rebeller & Mademoiseller - Toll, Kleen, Rudbeck at Norrköping Museum of Art, Norrköping, Sweden (23 October 2021 - 24 April 2022); Rebeller & Mademoiseller - Toll, Kleen, Rudbeck at Bror Hjorths Hus, Uppsala, Sweden (4 June - 4 September 2022); Tyra Kleen. Ständigt sökande at Norrköping Museum of Art, Norrköping, Sweden (10 February - 29 September 2024); Tyra Kleen. Ständigt sökande at Uppsala Art Museum, Uppsala, Sweden (12 October 2024 - 23 February 2025); and Tyra Kleen. Ständigt sökande at Bohuslän Museum, Uddevalla, Sweden (31 May - 24 August 2025).

When the Thiel Gallery showed their exhibition in 2018, the catalogue stated:

Tyra Kleen fought against the obstacles to women artists. She stands out, with her unconventional life, as a fearless, multifaceted practitioner with an unusual ability to interweave dance, literature, activism and adventure with imagination and spiritual quests, into an exceedingly unique artistic oeuvre.

Copyright Firestorm Foundation