LUCIE LAGERBIELKE

b. 1865, Stockholm, Sweden
d. 1931, Lidingö, Sweden

WORKS | BIOGRAPHY | EXHIBITIONS | PUBLICATIONS

SELECTED WORKS

BIOGRAPHY

LLportrait Lucie Lagerbielke was the daughter of the wealthy "Vodka King" Lars Olsson Smith, who was also a member of the First Chamber of the Swedish Parliament for six years. She shared her interest in Spiritualism with her younger sister Mary Karadja (1868-1943). Both became deeply involved in Spiritualism and the occult from 1899. Under the influence of various spirit guides, Lucie Lagerbielke began to produce complex, symbol-laden mediumistic drawings. Her early works are signed "Paula". She claims to have received the name from the Apostle Paul, who was her spirit guide at the time. Later, it was the spirit of Vitus who inspired her texts and images. While her early works, with their rich symbolism and the inclusion of texts, are reminiscent of 17th century allegorical and emblematic representations from occult and theosophical literature, her later works, mainly under the influence of Vitus, are much freer in their artistic scope and are often characterized by intense colors.

Like her sister Mary Karadja, she sought contact with the Edelweiss Society, but she never became a member and was rejected by its leaders because of her occult leanings. Lucie Lagerbielke claimed to have belonged to an esoteric school and to have had considerable supernatural or transcendental experiences. Although she was very active in the field of Spiritualism and wrote many non-fiction books and novels on the subject, she distanced herself from the Spiritualist sphere, which she considered spiritual rubbish. From 1919 to 1925 she was the editor of the journal Framtidens folk: tidning för andliga problem, psykisk forskning och social nydaning ("People of the Future: A Journal for Mental Problems, Psychical Research and Social Innovation"). Throughout her life, Lucie Lagerbielke became increasingly interested in social issues and turned to socialism and Bolshevism.

Lucie Lagerbielke was undoubtedly one of the most exciting personalities of Scandinavian spiritualism and occultism at the turn of the century and one of the most impressive mediumistic artists.

EXHBITIONS

2019 Painting and spirituality. Hilma af Klint - Tyra Kleen - Lucie Lagerbielke, Millesgården, Stockholm, Sweden, Oct 5 – Feb 9, 2020

1932 Nio Unga, Liljevalchs Konsthall, Stockholm, Feb 6-28, 1932

PUBLICATIONS

Berglund, Pelle, The Vodka King: The Story of L O Smith. Stockholm: Business History Publishing, 2018
Faxneld, Per, Det ockulta sekelskiftet: esoteriska strömningar i Hilma af Klints tid. Stockholm: Volante, 2020
Faxneld, Per, "Kvinnligt ledarskap inom svensk spiritism runt år 1900." In Simon Sorgenfrei and David Thurfjell (eds.), Kvinnligt religiöst ledarskap. Huddinge: Södertörns högskola, 2020, 123-135.
Nilsson, Ulrika, Från seans till revolution: Lucie Lagerbielke och danandet av framtidens folk (1903–1925). MA thesis, Uppsala: Uppsala universitet, 1994