On April 8, 2026, I submitted my amended as per outlined by examiners my thesis, "AutoAbstraction: An Autotheoretical Analysis of a Postfeminist Painters Praxis" to Professor Andrew Renton, one of the two examiners who co-chaired my viva voce.
NOTES on how I have addressed Professor Peter Appleton's and Professor Andrew Renton's recommended amendments to the thesis, "AutoAbstraction: An Autotheoretical Analysis of a Postfeminist Painter’s Praxis"
RE: Their concern with how art historical revisions that cite Hilma af Klint as a pioneering abstract artist are addressed, in the submitted amended thesis, which still includes the original writing, and these listed six original bibliographic references...
––af Klint, H. (2013) ‘The Swan, No. 21, Group IX/SUW’, Art Forum Available at: https://www.artforum.com/features/universal-pictures-the-art-of-hilma-af-klint-214627/ [Accessed 2024].
––Birnbaum, D. (2013) Art Forum. Universal Pictures: The Art of Hilma Af Klint, Available at: https://www.artforum.com/features/universal-pictures-the-art-of-hilma-af-klint-214627/ [Accessed 2024].
––Brown, K. (2023) ‘This is Her Reality’: The First-ever Biography on Hilma af Klint Unearths How the Swedish Artist Lived, Worked, And Communed With Spirits [online] Available at: https://news.artnet.com/art-world/hilma-af-klint-biography-2266438 [Accessed 2023].
––Herzberger, C. (2021) Abstract Art is Feminine: A Shout-Out to Hilma af Klint [online] Available at: https://www.singulart.com/en/blog/2021/03/19/abstract-art-is-feminine-a-shout-out-to-hilma-af-klint/ [Accessed 2025].
––Stolarski, E. (2021) Hilma af Klint: A Timely Message From the Beyond [online] Available at: https://twocoatsofpaint.com/2019/03/hilma-af-klint-timely-message-beyond.html [Accessed 2024].
––Voss, J. and Posten, A. (2022) Hilma af Klint: A Biography. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
To address this more thoroughly, I did more af Klint research and writing––some on her own notebook writing and sketches, and other reading and writing based on contemporary af Klint scholars work. And, I added to my bibliography these additional af Klint citations:
––Aberth, S. et al. (2023) Hilma af Klint: Tree of Knowledge. NY, NY: David Zwirner Books.
––Adams, D. (2020) Hilma af Klint at the Guggenheim Museum, Issuu. Available at: https://issuu.com/anthrousa/docs/bh23-web/s/10202838#:~:text=by%20David%20Adams,%2C%20Frieze%20(art%20magazine)%202013 (Accessed: 2026).
––Adler, N. (2019) ‘Hilma af Klint’s Queer Clairvoyance’, papermag. Available at: https://www.papermag.com/hilma-af-klint-guggenheim#rebelltitem18 (Accessed: 2026).
––af Klint, H. (1918) Studies of the Life of the Soul (Studier över Själslivet). Stockholm.
––af Klint, H., Müller-Westermann, I. and Klint, J. af (2018) Hilma af Klint: Notes and methods Kerstin Lind Bonnier, Elizabeth Clark Wessel, and Anne Posten. Edited by C. Burgin. Translated by K.L. Bonnier, E.C. Wessel, and A. Posten. NY, NY, Chicago, IL: Christine Burgin ; The University of Chicago Press.
––Frecon, S. (2022) ‘On Hilma af Klint, from the Point of View of a Nonobjective Painter’, in Hilma af Klint: Tree of Knowledge. New York, NY: David Zwirner, pp. 76–77.
––Rosenberg, M. (2022) ‘Hilma af Klint: Other Visions’, in Hilma af Klint: Tree of Knowledge. New York, NY: David Zwirner, pp. 78–89.
––Voss, J. (2019) The first abstract artist? (And it’s not Kandinsky)- Focus: Hilma af Klint, Tate. Available at: https://www.tate.org.uk/tate-etc/issue-27-spring-2013/first-abstract-artist-and-its-not-kandinsky (Accessed: 2026).
ADDITIONALLY:
RE: Their concern with the order of my paintings paired with historic precedents-
While I did re-organize most dissertation chapters, some extensively as requested, and some less extensively––which reorganized key chapter 3: Literature Integration, due to not being able to think of a better-than-the-original-organization scheme which is constructed chronologically-according-to-the-art-historical-painting dates, I left them in this order.
RE: Their concern with number of paintings paired perhaps being too great–
Because one year ago I had paired all thirty of my thesis paintings, now cited in a new Chapter 1, with art historical antecedents in a reconstructed Chapter 3, Literature Integration, made the chapter and the thesis overly long––the thesis was 5,000+ words over the 40,000 thesis word limit then, I deleted ten of the painting pairings. This left the twenty still existing pairings. Those 10 deletions made the chapter a more manageable length/size, and the overall thesis word limit at just under 40,000 words. Since the length decreased again after I made the current recommended-by-the-reviewers revisions by about 750 words, I left these 20 painting pairings in this amended thesis.
RE: Their concern that my extensively articulated painting processes needing something additional–
I added to a completely reorganized and revised Chapter 2: Literature Review, a section titled, “Painting Methods, Practices and Techniques". In it I discuss the art historical and theoretical influences on my painting processes.
RE: Their concern about the way I construct my personal narrative, I deleted all of theie following listed problematic sentences and phrases from the cited pages––plus many more not listed:
• An essay I first read in the 1990s while studying 97
• I have long taught and loved Willem de Kooning’s work and am especially enamored of his Pink Angels. 107
• the known-to-me idea that WWII…plus the new-to-me 107
• I have seen Vir Heroicus Sublimis many times at MoMA and taught it to countless numbers of art history and painting students. It is among the thousands of paintings I have been awe-struck by during my career. It’s one of countless that stays with me. 109
• As a teenager, I studied 114
• I did not yet make the connection between it and my praxis painting 115
• He suggested I look at it so, I did. And, I’ve been a fan of it since. 124
• he did not intend for me to take as a compliment, but I did. 125
• Ackermann’s work, which I was only peripherally aware of prior to my thesis research, 127
• After reading I noted 138
• It’s fair to say that Newman’s painting, at the time he painted it, (and) is still controversial.
RE: Their concern about conventional scholarship, and how I approached the writing of my exegesis being unconventional––
I revised it so that the writing sytle slants somewhat more formal. However, I note that two key tenants of my methodological approach, which is autotheory, include:
• Autobiographical ‘writing’ (and painting in my case)
• A combined scholarly AND memoiristic/diaristic writing style
I hope my amendments satisfy the concerns of Professors Appleton and Renton. I am pleased that I made them, since I think they led to another thorough refinement and rewrite. The thesis is now a stronger, more cohesive, less redundant, generally better written dissertation.
To Andrew in particular, thank you in advance for rereading it.
Sincerely,
Gina Dominique Hersey
23 April 2026
