Ivan Aguéli was a Swedish painter and mystic, born Johan Gustaf Agelii in 1869 in Sala, Sweden. He showed an early interest in art, and after discontinuing his studies, he moved to Visby in 1886. There, he encountered influential Swedish artists Richard Bergh and Karl Nordström, who helped foster his passion for painting. In 1890, Aguéli traveled to Paris, where he immersed himself in the art world and changed his surname to Aguéli.
While in Paris, Aguéli's interests expanded beyond art. He delved into anarchist and religious ideas, which influenced his life significantly and even led to a hiatus from painting. In 1900, during a bullfighting event, he was involved in an incident where he shot at two policemen, further demonstrating his commitment to anarchism. Afterward, he traveled multiple times to Egypt, drawn to Islamic mysticism and Sufism, which deeply impacted his spiritual and artistic work.
Despite these pursuits, Aguéli continued to paint intermittently. He participated in a 1912 exhibition organized by the Konstnärsförbundet, where four of his paintings were displayed. A year before his death, in 1916, Aguéli was expelled from Egypt due to political tensions. He then moved to Barcelona, where he tragically died in a train accident in 1917.
Aguéli is remembered both for his contributions to Swedish Symbolism and his profound interest in Eastern philosophy and mysticism, which influenced both his life and his art.