Hilma af Klint Pioneered Abstractions and Spoke with Spirits. Here’s Why She’s Important.

With her claims to communication with spirits, and the pioneering abstractions she made before those of many famed male modernists, the artist Hilma af Klint has been a constant source of intrigue over the past decade. A new documentary about the artist and an exhibition originally expected to open this month at the Moderna Museet in Malmö, Sweden, occasion a look back at the artist’s mysterious work. Below, a guide to the elusive artist’s life and work.
She wasn’t well-kn