Mystical Landscapes: Masterpieces From Monet, Van Gogh & More

The Olive Trees by Vincent Van Gogh, 1889. The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Mrs. John Hay Whitney Bequest, 1998. ©The Museum of Modern Art/Licensed by SCALA/Art Resource, New York.

If you are in Toronto before February 12, do yourself a favour and go see Mystical Landscapes: Masterpieces From Monet, Van Gogh & More at the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO).

Curators have gathered together a collection of some of the biggest names in the art world and invite the public to view their art through a more spiritual lens.

Artwork by 37 artists from 14 countries including, Claude Monet, Paul Gauguin, Vincent van Gogh, Edvard Munch, Georgia O’Keeffe, James McNeill Whistler, as well as Canadian artists Emily Carr and members of the Group of Seven are featured in the show.

Three of Vincent Van Gogh’s paintings are on display, including The Olive Trees, painted in 1889.

“I think that one of the things that's fascinating about late 19th century art is that spirituality is still a component but it's not literal,” said AGO senior curator, Katharine Lochnan, in the audio guide. “ It's not immediately evident but once you understand how Van Gogh saw nature, and we know that from his letters, it's impossible not to read these as being his sacred paintings.”

If you haven’t studied art history before – or wandered through Swedish museums – you might not be familiar with the Swedish painter, Eugène Jansson, whose nocturnal images of Stockholm are utterly captivating.

The exhibition’s interpretive panel describes his work this way: “The Swedish artist Eugène Jansson expressed his mystical experiences through views of Stockholm painted from his studio window.

Bathed in darkness and ringed by lights, church spires silhouetted against the rising sun, his images may be a metaphor for the City of God. The artist encourages contemplation by inviting us into the empty space in the middle of the composition and, by adopting a high vantage point, evokes feelings of transcendence, of hovering over the city.”

Even if you are not a profoundly religious person, or heavily influenced by mysticism, the images on display are well worth viewing for their own sake.

The AGO is the only Canadian stop for Mystical Landscapes: Masterpieces From Monet, Van Gogh & More. It moves on to the Musée d’Orsay in Paris afterwards. 

Dawn over Riddarfjarden by Eugene Jansson, 1899. Collection of Prins Eugens Waldemarsudde.