Hilma af Klint
What Stands Behind Flowers
MoMA, New York
May 11 - September 27, 2025
Tulipa sp. (Tulip)
Sheet 35 from the portfolio Nature Studies. May 20, 1920
Watercolor, pencil, ink, and metallic paint on paper,
19 5/8 × 10 5/8 in. (49.8 × 27 cm)
The Museum of Modern Art, New York
Committee on Drawings and Prints Fund and
gift of Jack Shear, 2022
Gagea lutea (Yellow Star-of-Bethlehem),
Pulmonaria officinalis (Common Lungwort),
Tussilago farfara (Coltsfoot),
Draba verna (Common Whitlowgrass),
Pulsatilla vulgaris (European Pasqueflower)
Sheet 2 from the portfolio Nature Studies. April 24–30, 1919
Watercolor, pencil, and ink on paper,
19 5/8 × 10 9/16 in. (49.9 × 26.9 cm)
The Museum of Modern Art, New York
Committee on Drawings and Prints Fund and
gift of Jack Shear, 2022
Convallaria majalis (Lily of the Valley),
Geum rivale (Water Avens),
Polygala vulgaris (Common Milkwort)
Sheet 11 from the portfolio Nature Studies. June 10–11, 1919
Watercolor, pencil, ink, and metallic paint on paper,
19 5/8 × 10 5/8 in. (49.9 × 27 cm)
The Museum of Modern Art, New York
Committee on Drawings and Prints Fund and
gift of Jack Shear, 2022
Luzula campestris (Field Woodrush), Viola hirta (Hairy Violet),
Viola odorata (Sweet Violet),
Chrysospleniumalternifolium
(Alternate-Leaf Golden Saxifrage),
Equisetumarvense (Field Horsetail),
Caltha palustris (Marsh Marigold),
Ranunculus ficaria (Fig Buttercup), Carex sp. (Sedge)
Sheet 4 from the portfolio Nature Studies. May 9–15, 1919
Watercolor, pencil, and ink on paper,
19 5/8 × 10 9/16 in. (49.9 × 26.9 cm).
The Museum of Modern Art, New York.
Committee on Drawings and Prints Fund and
gift of Jack Shear, 2022
The Museum of Modern Art presents an exhibition showcasing MoMA’s recent acquisition of Nature Studies, a portfolio of 46 botanical drawings by the Swedish artist HILMA AF KLINT (1862–1944), which will be on display for the first time. Hilma af Klint: What Stands Behind Flowers explores af Klint’s engagement with the natural world. Created during the spring and summer of 1919 and 1920, the Nature Studies portfolio presents the wonders of Sweden’s flora and showcases the artist’s keen botanical eye. Hilma af Klint combines her renowned approach to abstraction with traditional botanical drawing, juxtaposing detailed renderings of plants discovered in her surroundings with enigmatic abstract diagrams. Examples include a sunflower paired with concentric circles, a narcissus crowned by a pinwheel of primary colors, and tree blossoms accompanied by checkerboards of dots and strokes. Through these forms, af Klint seeks to reveal, in her words, “what stands behind the flowers,” reflecting her belief that studying nature uncovers truths about the human condition. Hilma af Klint: What Stands Behind Flowers is organized by Jodi Hauptman, The Richard Roth Senior Curator, Department of Drawings and Prints, with Kolleen Ku, Curatorial Assistant, and Chloe White, Louise Bourgeois Fellow, Department of Drawings and Prints. Realized with the participation of the Hilma af Klint Foundation, Stockholm.
The exhibition focuses on the years 1917 to 1922, contextualizing the MoMA portfolio and highlighting a pivotal shift in af Klint’s practice. In 1917, no longer satisfied with only receiving direction from spiritual guides, Hilma af Klint embarked on a path of self-study, culminating in the Nature Studies drawings. The exhibition opens with this new approach, seen in her adoption of an abstract diagrammatic vocabulary in works like the 1917 Atom series, one of many key loans from the Hilma af Klint Foundation in Stockholm. This section also highlights in landscapes and botanical drawing her ongoing dedication to observation. As Hilma af Klint noted, “First, I shall try to penetrate the flowers of the earth; use as a point of departure the plants of the earth.” The second section focuses on the Nature Studies, along with related notebooks that allow visitors to experience af Klint’s reflections on the plants she studied, as well as botanical source materials. The final section presents her ongoing interest in exploring the connection between nature and spirituality, but with a new method. In the 1922 series On the Viewing of Flowers and Trees, Hilma af Klint employs a wet-on-wet watercolor technique, using vibrant color to express the spiritual power of plants.
Helianthus annuus (Common Sunflower)
Sheet 27 from the portfolio Nature Studies. September 3, 1919
Watercolor, pencil, ink, and metallic paint on paper,
19 3/4 × 10 9/16″ (50.2 × 26.8 cm)
The Museum of Modern Art, New York
Committee on Drawings and Prints Fund and
gift of Jack Shear, 2022
Prunus padus (European Bird Cherry),
Prunus avium (Sweet Cherry),
Prunus cerasus (Sour Cherry),
Prunus domestica (European Plum)
Sheet 7 from the portfolio Nature Studies. May 27–June 3, 1919
Watercolor, pencil, ink, and metallic paint on paper,
19 5/8 × 10 5/8 in. (49.9 × 27 cm)
The Museum of Modern Art, New York
Committee on Drawings and Prints Fund and
gift of Jack Shear, 2022
Tilia × europaea (Common Linden)
Sheet 22 from the portfolio Nature Studies. July 29, 1919
Watercolor, pencil, ink, and metallic paint on paper,
19 5/8 × 10 5/8 in. (49.9 × 27 cm)
The Museum of Modern Art, New York
Committee on Drawings and Prints Fund and
gift of Jack Shear, 2022
“While we often think of artists of the early 20th century as focused on new technologies—and the hustle and bustle of modern life—for many, the natural world was a crucial touchstone. MoMA’s Nature Studies reveal af Klint as an artist uniquely attuned to nature. We hope that attunement—her demonstration of careful observation and discovery of all that stands behind the flowers—encourages our audience to look closely and see their own surroundings, whether here in the city or beyond, in new ways,” says Jodi Hauptman.
Nos. 6–14b from the series Group 2. February 5–12, 1919
Watercolor, graphite, and metallic paint on paper,
14 3/16 × 19 11/16 in. (36 × 50 cm)
Hilma af Klint Foundation, Stockholm (HaK 448)
No. 8 from The Atom Series. January 13, 1917
Watercolor, graphite, and metallic paint on paper,
10 5/8 × 9 13/16 in. (27 × 25 cm)
Hilma af Klint Foundation, Stockholm (HaK 360)
Birch from the series On the Viewing of Flowers and Trees. 1922
Watercolor on paper, 6 11/16 × 9 13/16 in. (17 × 25 cm)
Hilma af Klint Foundation, Stockholm (HaK 639)
The exhibition reveals, for the first time, the extent of af Klint’s plant knowledge and the ways her botanical experience shaped her artistic vision. Through research for this exhibition, seven previously unknown drawings by Hilma af Klint of mushroom species, commissioned by the renowned Swedish mycologist M. A. Lindblad, were discovered in the archives at the Swedish Museum of Natural History. They are loaned to MoMA, and shown in the US for the first time, to demonstrate af Klint’s commitment to close observation of the natural world and her drawing within a scientific context. The discovery was made through the research collaboration of Dr. Lena Struwe, director of the Chrysler Herbarium at Rutgers University and professor at the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences, a contributor to the exhibition and its catalogue; and Dr. Johannes Lundberg, curator in the Department of Botany at the Swedish Museum of Natural History, who identified this previously unknown group of drawings. Further, as a crucial element of the exhibition’s research, MoMA associate conservator Laura Neufeld conducted the firstever technical analysis of af Klint’s methods and materials on paper.
The exhibition is accompanied by a catalogue and a limited-edition facsimile.
What Stands Behind the Flowers
Published by The Museum of Modern Art,
New York, 2025
The lavishly illustrated catalogue, Hilma af Klint: What Stands Behind the Flowers, presents the 46 drawings alongside contextualizing artworks and translations of the artist’s previously unpublished writings. An overview essay by Jodi Hauptman explores af Klint’s portfolio and the circumstances of its creation, and essays by Ewa Lajer-Burcharth, Laura Neufeld, and Lena Struwe unpack the imagery, materiality, and botanical knowledge of these works. 272 pages, 160 color illustrations. Hardcover, $55. ISBN: 978-1-63345-168-1.Hilma af Klint: Flora is a deluxe facsimile of the full portfolio, published in a limited edition of 500. Each of the 46 drawings are presented on its own sheet at full scale, and the collection is enclosed in a luxe clamshell case. $500. ISBN: 978-1-63345-169-8.Both editions are published by The Museum of Modern Art, New York, and will be available at MoMA stores and online at store.moma.org.
MUSEUM OF MODERN ART - MoMA, NEW YORK
