Hilma af Klint (b. Sweden, 1862-1944) and Piet Mondrian (b. Netherlands, 1872-1944) were two of the most imaginative artists of the 20thcentury. They never met but shared a deep connection to the natural world and curiosity about the forces underpinning life on earth. Featuring around 250 works, including paintings, drawings and archival materials, this major exhibition brings their work together for the first time showing how their art reflected radical new ideas, theories and scientific discoveries in an era of rapid social change.

Starting as landscape painters, almost simultaneously in the early 1900s they both developed languages of abstraction inspired by new ways of looking closely at nature. The discovery of invisible forces like radioactivity and electrons in the 1890s undermined society’s confidence in the solidity of the world as experienced. Visionary artists like af Klint and Mondrian turned to esoteric movements like theosophy and anthroposophy as a way of reconciling religion with the modern world. Featuring early landscapes, botanical drawings and depictions of flowers and trees alongside abstract paintings, the exhibition traces their ongoing interest in nature and explores how both engaged with spirituality and mysticism in their art. Alongside Mondrian’s iconic grids, the exhibition includes rarely shown paintings of flowers created throughout his life, while highlights of Hilma af Klint’s work include her series of monumental paintings The Ten Largest (1907).