Ivan Aguéli: The Unity of Art in Mysticism

Biographical essay of a Swedish artist, Anarchist, and Sufi mystic

[From my article of the same title in Mystics, Scholars and Holy Men, ed. Troy Southgate, Black Front Press, 2014, pp. 183-211]

One of the most remarkable and neglected men at the turn of the 19th century, is the Swedish painter Ivan Aguéli. An active mystic, he was credited with being "a pioneer in the introduction of serious Sufism to the West." (1) An…