Hilma af Klint: What Stands Behind the Flowers

    Across the spring and summer seasons of 1919 and 1920, Swedish artist Hilma af Klint (1862–1944) 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.

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Behind the Flowers presents the drawings alongside contextualizing artworks and translations of the artist’s previously unpublished writings.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.
 
272 pp., 9.06 x 1.5 x 10.51 inches