Twentieth-century art has usually been analysed in terms of intellectual aesthetic principles. But several important artists of this century were motivated less by aesthetic ideas than by spiritual values. Ann Davis considers the work of five of the most dynamic and innovative Canadian painters of the period: Bertram Brooker, Emily Carr, Lawren Harris, Jock Macdonald, and Fred Varley. She shows how these artists strove to work with mystical forms, those involved a transcendent, direct, selfless, unitive experience of God or ultimate reality.

None of these artists was motivated solely by mystical concerns, but each was deeply interested in such matters. In focusing on those works, writings, as well as painting, which do reflect their fascination with spiritual issues, we are able to see how these artists tried, in very individual ways, to delineate their visions of eternal life.