The Swan (No. 1)
In The Swan (Nº 1), a black and white yin/yang mirror image depicts two swans in flight, united by the touch of a wing and their meeting beaks. The painting embodies the ancient Chinese symbolism of complementary and seemingly contrary forces. However, the work also conveys a sense of antagonism that reflects the struggle inherent in union, particularly between humans. Af Klint's signature colors, blue and yellow, appear on the birds' beaks and flippers, highlighting the quest for balance between the sexes. In The Swan No. 2, the subsequent painting in the series, the swans are thrust together, and the color created between them is now red instead of green. The redness encircles the birds, and it drips like blood from the black, "female" bird's wing, suggesting that the experience of passion and reproductive force can negatively obliterate female energy.
The Swan series, which takes place in the context of Paintings for The Temple, portrays a struggle between the swans that reflects the conflict between the heavenly and the underworld, good and bad, and peace and war. Many other paintings in the series depict targets for combat practice, adding to the theme of struggle. Swans, with their renowned strength and protective tendencies, are universal symbols of transcendence and completion in the alchemical tradition.
When Klint created these works, she had moved away from the more automatic painting techniques she had used in the past, towards a more researched, thoughtful, and constructed approach. Despite this shift, her connection to the spiritual world remained present, particularly through Rudolf Steiner's Anthroposophical spiritual theories that had deeply interested Af Klint at the time. According to critic Mark Hudson, the works display a sophisticated visual intelligence and a timelessly enigmatic quality, making it hard to believe that they were created as long ago as 1915.
