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Staden bland kullarna (Landskap från Egypten)
Staden bland kullarna (Landskap från Egypten)
Staden bland kullarna (Landskap från Egypten)
Photo: Juan Luis Sánchez/Moderna Museet

Staden bland kullarna (Landskap från Egypten)

by Ivan Aguéli
Artist (Sverige, 1869 - 1917)
Alternate Title
  • The City in the Hills (Egyptian Landscape)
Dateca 1895
MediumTempera on canvas
DimensionsBildmått: 22,5 × 30,5 cm Ram: 33 × 41 × 4 cm
Classification
Countries
Credit LineDonation 1920 från Anna Aguéli
Object NumberNM 2202
CollectionsAndlighet och mysticism
The artwork is not on display
About the artwork In a world that distinguished clearly between centre and periphery, many artists in the early 20th century turned to the “untrained” and “primitive” art of distant cultures for inspiration. After breaking with his father and ending up in jail for participating in anarchist riots in Paris, Ivan Aguéli went to Egypt in 1894, and he lived in Cairo for most of his remaining life. Four years later, he converted to Islam. Despite Islam’s prohibition against depiction – a dilemma he discussed in several texts – he painted landscapes, palm tree groves and portraits. The City in the Hills is a typical example of how he, as he describes it, sought the greatest possible simplicity. Influenced by the ideas of Emanuel Swedenborg, Aguéli devoted himself to studies, translations and art criticism, writing large parts of the editorial content for the Italian-Arabic periodical Il Convito, with the aim of reducing colonialist prejudices against the Arabic peoples. In 1916, he was deported by the British colonial powers. Ivan Aguéli only took part in one single exhibition during his short life, he had other priorities and was uninterested in fame in the art world. In hindsight, his practice could be described as being an artist beyond the prevailing concept of art. Selected exhibition history Ingens hundar: svensk konst genom hundra år (1998) Moderna Museet, Stockholm 10 historier - svensk konst 1910-1945 ur Moderna Museets samling (2007) Moderna Museet, Stockholm Scenbyte: verk ur Moderna Museets Samling av Dardel, Matisse, Abdul-Hadi, Hjertén och Léger m.fl. (den 15 oktober 2011 - den 5 februari 2012) Moderna Museet Malmö Klee / Aguéli (den 16 januari 2016 - den 24 april 2016) Moderna Museet, Stockholm Den tredje handen. Maurizio Cattelan och Moderna Museets samling (den 24 februari 2024 - den 12 januari 2025) Moderna Museet, Stockholm Samlingsutställning 2010 - Ivan Aguéli och Bill Viola (2010) Moderna Museet, Stockholm Samlingsutställning 2019-2022 (den 1 februari 2019 - den 27 augusti 2023) Moderna Museet, Stockholm The Moderna Museet exhibition catalogues Klee/Aguéli : [Moderna Museet Stockholm 16/1-24/4 2016]10 historier : svensk konst 1910-1945 ur Moderna Museets samling : [2/6 - 9/9 2007]