Eriophorum angustifolium (Tall Cottongrass), Cardamine pratensis (Cuckoo Flower), Carex dioica (Dioecious Sedge). Sheet 42 from the portfolio Nature Studies, created by Hilma af Klint in 1920, is a masterful example of the artist's preparatory drawings used for metaphysical investigation. This specific sheet, dated June 8–10, 1920, employs a mixed media approach of watercolor, pencil, and ink on paper. It is one of 46 meticulous studies that comprise the Nature Studies portfolio, a crucial series in which the Swedish pioneer of abstract art explored botanical structures with almost scientific precision, aiming to visually decode the inherent geometry and energy of the plant world.
While Klint is internationally celebrated for her foundational large-scale abstract canvases, this body of work reveals the rigorous observational skill and scientific discipline underpinning her radical spiritual vision. This particular drawing focuses on the exact delineation of three distinct species: the fuzzy, cotton-like heads of Eriophorum angustifolium (Tall Cottongrass), the delicate, pale petals of Cardamine pratensis (Cuckoo Flower), and the structured segments of Carex dioica (Dioecious Sedge). Klint utilized these botanical elements not merely as academic illustrations, but as a visual vocabulary, documenting the formal relationships between organic growth and underlying cosmic order. The delicate application of watercolor alongside sharp pencil lines emphasizes the structural integrity of the subjects, reflecting the standards of natural history drawing from the period.
The Nature Studies collection ultimately bridges Klint’s earlier figurative training with her later revolutionary abstract compositions. Classified as a drawing, the work represents the highest quality of observational studies in Swedish cultural history. This piece, along with the rest of the 46 drawings in the portfolio, resides in the prestigious collection of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), confirming Klint’s profound and enduring influence on 20th-century abstraction.
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