Hilma af Klint was a Swedish artist and mystic whose paintings are considered among the first abstract works known in Western art history. A considerable body of her work predates the first purely abstract compositions by Kandinsky, Malevich and Mondrian. She belonged to a group called 'The Five', comprising a circle of women inspired by Theosophy, who shared a belief in the importance of trying to contact the so-called 'High Masters'—often by way of séances. Her paintings, which sometimes resemble diagrams, were a visual representation of complex spiritual ideas. Af Klint's work can be understood in the wider context of the modernist search for new forms in artistic, spiritual, political, and scientific systems at the beginning of the twentieth century. There was a similar interest in spirituality by other artists during this same period, including Wassily Kandinsky, Piet Mondrian, Kazimir Malevich, Fidus, and the French Nabis, in which many, like af Klint, were inspired by the Theosophical Movement. The works of Hilma af Klint are mainly spiritual, and her artistic work is a consequence of this. She felt the abstract work and the meaning within were so groundbreaking that the world was not ready for it.