Narcissus poeticus (Poet's Narcissus). Sheet 34 from the portfolio Nature Studies

Narcissus poeticus (Poet's Narcissus). Sheet 34 from the portfolio Nature Studies is a highly detailed drawing created by Swedish artist Hilma af Klint on the specific date of May 19, 1920. This particular sheet is one of 46 intricate drawings that compose the Nature Studies portfolio, a significant but often overlooked body of work that reveals the artist’s deep engagement with scientific observation and botany, providing context for her later abstract investigations. Klint executed this piece using a complex combination of watercolor, pencil, ink, gouache, and metallic paint on paper, demonstrating her command over diverse artistic media even when addressing seemingly conventional subject matter.

While Klint is primarily celebrated for pioneering non-objective art, the Nature Studies series confirms her rigorous study of the visible world, linking her spiritual investigations with precise botanical forms. The drawing itself focuses intensely on the structure of the Narcissus poeticus flower, rendered with meticulous care typical of traditional natural history illustration. However, Klint’s distinctive approach, marked by the subtle integration of metallic paint, elevates the rendering beyond simple documentation, injecting an ethereal quality into the organic subject. This commitment to detailed observation characterized Klint’s methodology for documenting the visible world as a prerequisite for understanding metaphysical reality.

This piece contributes significantly to the understanding of Klint's creative processes during her later career, bridging representational study and symbolic abstraction. As a leading figure in Swedish art, Klint meticulously cataloged these botanical studies, often assigning them the precise dates and sequence numbers seen here with Sheet 34. The entire Nature Studies portfolio acts as a vital visual link, connecting the physical properties of plants with the underlying spiritual laws that preoccupied the artist throughout her life. This important drawing is classified as a Drawing and is held in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art, ensuring the continued study of Klint’s detailed work, which is increasingly available to researchers and the public domain through high-quality prints and archival reproductions.