MoMA has acquired a rare portfolio of 46 botanical drawings by Hilma af Klint, created between 1919 and 1920, and will present them in an exhibition titled “What Stands Behind the Flowers” from May 11 to September 27. Curator Jodi Hauptman discusses how the drawings reveal af Klint’s dual approach—traditional figuration alongside abstract diagrams—and her deep engagement with the natural world, including newly discovered evidence that she worked as a professional scientific illustrator for a mushroom specialist.
This exhibition matters because it expands the narrative around af Klint beyond her famous 1906 abstract works and the spiritualist controversy that has surrounded her legacy. By focusing on her botanical studies, MoMA highlights how nature informed her path to abstraction, offering a more nuanced understanding of a 20th-century artist who has become a cult figure since her blockbuster 2019 Guggenheim retrospective.