Summer Flowers II (rotated, section)

Layers of warm color spread across this canvas like a field bursting into bloom. Dots and dabs of orange, red, pink, and gold build up into a rich surface that seems to glow with the heat of an Australian summer. There are no clear outlines or single flowers to find, just an overall sense of growth and abundance that pulls your eye across the whole painting.

Emily Kame Kngwarreye was an Aboriginal artist from Utopia, a remote community in Australia's Northern Territory. She didn't start painting on canvas until she was nearly 80 years old, yet she went on to create thousands of works and became one of the country's most celebrated artists. Her paintings often connect to her ancestral land and the plants and seeds important to her people, especially the yam, which was tied to her name and her Dreaming stories.

Although this work is called "Summer Flowers," Kngwarreye rarely painted things in a literal way. The dense patterns reflect her deep knowledge of the desert landscape through the seasons, when rain brings sudden color to the earth. Standing before it, you get a feeling more than a picture, the warmth, the energy, and the quiet rhythm of country she carried with her throughout her life.