On January 1, 1906, the Swedish artist Hilma af Klint received a divine commandment from a spirit named Amaliel, who instructed her to create paintings that would adorn the walls of a future temple. A devotee of Spiritualism, a religious movement that combined Christian beliefs with mysticism, she took the mission to heart. “This was the large work, that I was to perform in my life,” af Klint wrote in her notebook after the encounter. The Swedish artist began creating her famous “Paintings for the Temple” series, pausing in 1908 to take care of her mother. Returning to the project in 1913, she created “Tree of Knowledge,” a suite of eight watercolors featuring trees, animals, biblical motifs, and interconnected geometric patterns. As part of their “Iconoclasts” exhibition, “Tree of Knowledge” will be on view at Glenstone alongside works by Diane Arbus, Willem de Kooning, and Jackson Pollock. —Paulina Prosnitz