Summer Flowers II (rotated, section)

This vibrant explosion of color comes from Emily Kame Kngwarreye, an Aboriginal Australian artist who didn't begin painting until she was in her seventies. Working from her remote community in the Australian desert, she created thousands of works in just eight years, becoming one of Australia's most celebrated artists. Her paintings drew from decades of knowledge as a senior custodian of her land and its ceremonial traditions.

What looks like a joyful garden of flowers is actually much more complex. Kngwarreye's dots and marks represent the native wildflowers that bloom across her ancestral country after rare desert rains, but they also connect to deeper stories about the land, seeds, and cycles of growth. She worked with incredible speed and confidence, building up layers of paint in oranges, pinks, and reds that seem to pulse with energy and life, capturing both the physical beauty of the landscape and its spiritual significance in one brilliant sweep.