Hilma af Klint created a visionary body of abstract art decades before abstraction became widely recognized in modern painting. Her work grew from a deep interest in spirituality, science, nature, and the unseen forces she believed shaped the world.

She trained at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Stockholm and first worked as a painter of portraits, landscapes, and botanical studies. Alongside this public career, she became involved in spiritualist circles and created a large group of abstract works that she kept mostly private during her lifetime.

For much of the 20th century, her art remained little known. Today, af Klint is seen as a pioneering figure who expands the story of abstraction and modernism.