Hilma af Klint Playing Cards

An artist both of her time and well ahead of it, Hilma af Klint was a rare original. Years before Modernist pioneers Mondrian and Kandinsky dipped into abstraction, af Klint broke ground with colorful, energetic compositions that veered away from the figurative. Influenced by spiritualism, she tried to reconcile art, science, and religious pluralism through her paintings. Determining that the world wasn’t ready, she decreed that her work—now celebrated—not be exhibited until 20 years after her death.