The work titled Rosa canina (Dog Rose), Rosa dumalis (Glaucous Dog Rose), Vicia cracca (Bird Vetch). Sheet 19 from the portfolio Nature Studies was created by Swedish artist Hilma af Klint in 1919. This detailed sheet is one of 46 drawings comprising the extensive Nature Studies portfolio, executed primarily in watercolor, pencil, ink, and metallic paint on paper. Classified as a drawing, this piece demonstrates Klint’s meticulous observational practices, which often bridged scientific study with her spiritual and theoretical inquiries. The specific techniques utilized in this work showcase the artist’s mastery of watercolor washes alongside the precise line work achieved with pencil and ink.
Dated precisely to July 7–8, 1919, this piece captures three distinct botanical subjects: the common Dog Rose (Rosa canina), the Glaucous Dog Rose (Rosa dumalis), and Bird Vetch (Vicia cracca). While Klint is internationally renowned for her pioneering contributions to the development of abstract art, works like Sheet 19 confirm her foundational skills in naturalism and her deep engagement with the physical world. This drawing highlights the duality present throughout the Swedish artist’s career, where rigorous observation of nature provided the source material for her more esoteric and non-objective explorations.
The skillful combination of media, particularly the subtle application of metallic paint, adds an unexpected luminosity and material depth to the biological forms depicted. As a significant record of Klint's systematic approach to her artistic practice during 1919, this drawing remains an essential example of her diverse output. The work is housed in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art, New York. Reflecting the artist's enduring contemporary popularity, high-quality prints and reproductions of the Nature Studies series are widely sought after, maintaining public interest in the origins of Klint's groundbreaking abstraction.
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