Hilma af Klint's Secret Works Finally Revealed at Tate Modern

Hilma af Klint, the Swedish pioneer of abstract art born in 1862, is gaining posthumous recognition comparable to Frida Kahlo. She grew up at the Hanmora manor on Adelsö island, studied at Stockholm's Royal Academy of Fine Arts, and supported herself through portraits and landscapes. Her true passion was abstraction and symbolism, influenced by spiritualism. She created over 1,000 abstract works but kept them secret, stipulating in her will they be shown only 20 years after her death. She died in 1944. A recent film by Lasse Hallström tells her story. The Tate Modern in London now hosts "Hilma af Klint & Piet Mondrian. Forms of Life," running until September 3. The exhibition pairs af Klint with Piet Mondrian, who never met but both rooted their abstract art in nature and shared interests in science, spirituality, and philosophy. It includes rarely exhibited flower paintings and af Klint's large-scale works she believed were commissioned by higher powers.