Edited by Jodi Hauptman. Text by Ewa Lajer-Burcharth, Laura Neufeld, Lena Struwe.
Af Klint’s exquisitely rendered botanical portfolio reveals a deep spiritual engagement with the flora of her native Sweden
Across the spring and summer seasons of 1919 and 1920, Swedish artist Hilma af Klint engaged in a period of intense observation of nature, venturing into forests and fields and drawing the flowers she found there. The resulting 46 sheets comprise her Nature Studies portfolio, recently acquired by the Museum of Modern Art, New York. In pencil and jewel-toned watercolor, af Klint juxtaposed exquisitely rendered blossoms with enigmatic diagrams: a blooming sunflower is echoed by nested circles; lily of the valley is joined by a colorful checkerboard; catsfoot is set against a pair of mirrored spirals. Together, these two modes—representational and abstract—demonstrate the artist’s belief that close observation of nature reveals "what stands behind the flowers": ineffable aspects of the human character. Published in conjunction with the first public exhibition of this rare portfolio, Hilma af Klint: What Stands Behind the Flowers presents the drawings alongside contextualizing artworks and translations of the artist’s previously unpublished writings. An overview essay by curator Jodi Hauptman explores af Klint’s portfolio and the circumstances of its creation; texts by Ewa Lajer-Burcharth, Laura Neufeld and Lena Struwe unpack the imagery, materiality and botanical knowledge behind these works. Hilma af Klint (1862–1944) trained at Stockholm’s Royal Academy of Fine Arts and established herself as a professional artist. In the first decade of the 20th century, she developed a unique abstract vocabulary, some years earlier than her peers. Whether on canvas or on paper, her singular work is informed by her spiritual investigations and, as this project demonstrates, an interest in and attunement to the natural world.
PRAISE AND REVIEWS
ArtNews
Francesca Aton
In [this exhibition], one can see [Hilma af Klint's] approach to abstraction through more traditional means, as depictions of plants are juxtaposed by abstract diagrams.
Air Mail
Elena Clavarino
[These] drawings are now on view for the first time, shedding light on af Klint’s thought process.
The Financial Times
Ariella Budick
[Full] of quiet delights, puzzling codes and a background hum of spiritual intensity.
Artnet
Annika Olsen
For those who count themselves among the artist’s followers and fans, the freshly opened 'Hilma af Klint: What Stands Behind the Flowers' at MoMA offers an incisive look at the artist’s botanical work that also provides insight into her spiritual and artistic evolution.
The New York Times
Walker Mimms
Ebullient, rigorous and boastfully esoteric, these 'Nature Studies,' as she called them, reveal the didactic side of a pioneer in nonliteral art. This is an economical show of some beautiful field exercises, and it suggests the spiritual extremes to which the honorable but often tedious tradition of botanical illustration might be taken.
Hyperallergic
Lisa Yin Zhang
The small botanical and abstract paintings that comprise this show offer insight into af Klint’s beginnings with all the beauty of her monumental later art.
Hyperallergic
Natalie Haddad
Whether or not we share af Klint’s belief system, the 'Nature Studies' map a route to a higher plane of being along a tangible path. It may be that they illuminate some semblance of utopianism that’s still available to humankind, a quality as elusive as the world of the soul.
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Featured image is reproduced from new release Hilma af Klint: What Stands Behind the Flowers. Collecting a rare portfolio of exquisitely rendered botanical watercolors made during spring and summer of 1919 and 1920—just a few years after she completed her secret, groundbreaking Paintings for the Temple series that would, a century later, take the world by storm—this gorgeous, 272-page hardcover accompanies the first public exhibition of this body of work. “There are no obstacles to man’s ascent if he is capable of controlling his thinking,” Af Klint wrote in the essay, An Attempt to Explain What Stands Behind the Flowers, “directing his thoughts to the realm of light, overcoming the body’s resistance with his thought. When we turn our gaze toward the plant kingdom, it gives us information about the composition of our own being.”
ABOVE: Sheet 9. Fragaria vesca (Woodland Strawberry), Oxalis acetosella (European Wood Sorrel), Antennaria dioica (Catsfoot), Taraxacum officinale (Common Dandelion). June 2–3, 1919, and May 24–25, 1920.
FORMAT: Hbk, 9 x 10.5 in. / 272 pgs / 160 color. LIST PRICE: U.S. $60.00 LIST PRICE: CANADA $90 ISBN: 9781633451681 PUBLISHER: The Museum of Modern Art, New York AVAILABLE: 5/27/2025 DISTRIBUTION: D.A.P. RETAILER DISC: TRADE PUBLISHING STATUS: Active AVAILABILITY: In stock TERRITORY: NA ONLY
Published by The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Edited by Jodi Hauptman. Text by Ewa Lajer-Burcharth, Laura Neufeld, Lena Struwe.
Af Klint’s exquisitely rendered botanical portfolio reveals a deep spiritual engagement with the flora of her native Sweden
Across the spring and summer seasons of 1919 and 1920, Swedish artist Hilma af Klint engaged in a period of intense observation of nature, venturing into forests and fields and drawing the flowers she found there. The resulting 46 sheets comprise her Nature Studies portfolio, recently acquired by the Museum of Modern Art, New York. In pencil and jewel-toned watercolor, af Klint juxtaposed exquisitely rendered blossoms with enigmatic diagrams: a blooming sunflower is echoed by nested circles; lily of the valley is joined by a colorful checkerboard; catsfoot is set against a pair of mirrored spirals. Together, these two modes—representational and abstract—demonstrate the artist’s belief that close observation of nature reveals "what stands behind the flowers": ineffable aspects of the human character.
Published in conjunction with the first public exhibition of this rare portfolio, Hilma af Klint: What Stands Behind the Flowers presents the drawings alongside contextualizing artworks and translations of the artist’s previously unpublished writings. An overview essay by curator Jodi Hauptman explores af Klint’s portfolio and the circumstances of its creation; texts by Ewa Lajer-Burcharth, Laura Neufeld and Lena Struwe unpack the imagery, materiality and botanical knowledge behind these works.
Hilma af Klint (1862–1944) trained at Stockholm’s Royal Academy of Fine Arts and established herself as a professional artist. In the first decade of the 20th century, she developed a unique abstract vocabulary, some years earlier than her peers. Whether on canvas or on paper, her singular work is informed by her spiritual investigations and, as this project demonstrates, an interest in and attunement to the natural world.
