Together with a few female colleagues, Hilma af Klint shared a studio in the so-called Atelier House on Hamngatan 5 by Kungsträdgården in Stockholm. On the upper floors of the building were workrooms and residences for students who had completed their studies. It was the cultural hub of the time, with Blanch's Café and the Art Salon on the ground floor. Hilma af Klint was a pioneer on many levels. Her artistic career begins in classical painting, and she belonged to one of the first generations of women educated at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Stockholm. Until her forties, she primarily painted portraits and landscapes, botanical studies, and commissioned works.

Without any progressive transition, she then shifts from traditional painting to creating abstract art in an entirely free and unconventional manner. Long after her death, Hilma af Klint gained international recognition and acclaim as an early precursor of abstract art. From being virtually unknown, she is now equated with the greatest modern painters, and her abstract works are considered groundbreaking. She has redrawn the map of early abstract art, both in Sweden and internationally.