af Klint, Hilma (1862–1944)

Hilma af Klint was a Swedish artist and early abstractionist. Though she was formally trained and publicly worked in the academic style, af Klint secretly produced an extensive body of paintings meant to serve as meditations on the origins and nature of the universe. Her experimental works were influenced by a multiyear engagement with religion, science, and the occult. Af Klint remained largely unknown until the 1980s, in part due to her request that her work, which she believed was too advanced for the world, remain hidden until at least 20 years after her death. By the time of death in 1944, af Klint had produced roughly 1,300 paintings.