Spiritual Geographies: Religion and Landscape Art in California, 1890–1930

UCI Jack and Shanaz Langson Institute and Museum of California Art (Langson IMCA) is presenting Spiritual Geographies: Religion and Landscape Art in California, 1890-1930, a new exhibition exploring how various religions influenced representations of California’s wilderness and countryside during a period of rapid growth and diversification of the Golden State’s population. The selection of 35 works accompanied by rare books and archival materials invite viewers to consider how religious ideas were conveyed through landscape painting and religious texts utilized landscape imagery to construct spiritual meanings. Artworks by these Impressionist and early modernist artists—who were also readers and writers of religious publications—contributed to the national perception of California as a mystical and diverse place, tolerant of old and new sacred beliefs. On view from March 2 through June 8, 2024, Spiritual Geographies is organized by Langson IMCA Assistant Curator Michaëla Mohrmann, PhD, and divided into four thematic groupings, centering on nature mysticism, Protestant Evangelism, Theosophy, and Catholicism. Together, the sections trace how these four spiritual traditions informed depictions of California’s natural scenery while the landscape’s majestic beauty simultaneously expanded people’s understanding of the sacred.

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