£900.00
OLGA FRÖBE-KAPTEYN
Olga Fröbe-Kapteyn (1881-1962) was born in London to Dutch philosopher and anarchist Truss Muysken and her husband, engineer and photographer Albertus Kapteyn.
In 1900, the family moved to Zurich, where Olga studied at the School of Applied Arts and later at the University of Zurich. In 1909, she married flautist Ian Hermann Fröbe, returning to Zurich from Berlin as Europe descended into war. There Olga set up a literary salon and had twin daughters. Iwan died in a plane crash in 1915.
After Iwan’s death, a visit to the Monte Verità Sun Sanatorium gave Olga renewed purpose. The Sanatorium was a haven for philosophers, artists, and anarchists —a place to explore utopian ideas, including vegetarianism, nudism, dance therapy, and occult beliefs. Olga set up home near the mountain where she studied Indian philosophy, meditation, and theosophy.
Olga’s circle included the theologian Richard Wilhelm, whose translation of the I-Ching was, for Olga, a pivotal text. She was also introduced to members of the School of Wisdom, who investigated commonality between religions, and it is believed this was where she met Carl Jung.
Building on their mutual interest in the roots of religion, Jung and historian Rudolf Otto suggested that Olga establish a ‘meeting place between East and West’. From this, in 1933, sprang Eranos, a discussion group that met — and continues to meet — annually. The events see scholars convene to discuss all things spiritual. The theme of the inaugural symposium was ‘Yoga and Meditation in the East and the West’, and Jung spoke about ‘The Psychological Process of Individuation’.
The conferences provided insights into the study of archetypes and how some archaic icons remain almost unchanged over centuries. In 1934, commissioned by Jung, Olga visited numerous international libraries to research alchemy and archetypes, creating an archive of over 6,000 symbols.
Now known as The Archive for Research in Archetypal Symbolism and described as a “magic wand of analogy”, the collection contains over 18,000 images, each with a description that places it in context culturally and geographically. The ARAS is held at the Warburg Institute, London, with copies at the Jung Institute, Zurich and The Bollingen Institute, NYC.
Olga dedicated her life to the cause, continuing to be a trailblazer in cross-disciplinary pollination, editing thirty Eranos Yearbooks (1933-1961). She died at her home on the shores of Lake Maggiore, Casa Gabriella in April 1962.
Posthumously, her work has been reevaluated. She featured in The Centre Pompidou’s 2021 exhibit “Women in Abstraction”, in 2023, while “Olga Fröbe-Kapteyn: Deep Knowledge” was presented at Kunsthalle Mainz in Germany. Most recently, a retrospective, “Olga Fröbe-Kapteyn: Artista-Ricercatrice”, was held at the Museo Casa Rusca, Locarno, Switzerland.
THE MEDITATION PLATES
“The most profound things in human life can only… be expressed in images.” Olga Fröbe-Kapteyn
Produced at her home by Lake Maggiore between 1927 and 1934, Olga’s abstract geometric prints were originally painted between 1926 and 1934, using tempera, Indian ink and gold leaf on paper and cardboard. They incorporate religious symbols from around the world, alongside theosophical and mystical icons. Olga created around 127 paintings, of which 14 were selected to be screenprinted. They were printed by Vincenzo Bona, Turin.
Fröbe-Kapteyn claimed to have created the works while in a meditative state, and, for her, their primary use was as tools for her journey into the spiritual and psychological world. The polymorphic nature of the art helped her make sense of connections between religions and mysticism, playing and hypothesising that shapes not only have aesthetic qualities, but also an intrinsic power to heal and revitalise. She became convinced that these symbols opened up a window into the psyche.
Originally displayed in the lecture hall of Casa Eranos, the paintings were influenced by theosophist Alice Bailey, who used art in her psychotherapy practice. Bailey hailed the plates as depicting, “The path of evolution from the dawn of the great creative process to the consummation of the age, including the earth of discipleship and the path of initiation, as trodden by the human being.”
However, Alfons Rosenberg, a religious philosopher who worked in Olga’s archive described them as rich with a “frightening coldness”. The pictures were at the heart of Fröbe-Kapteyn’s initial communion with C.G. Jung, and he made it clear that he was not a fan. Jung described the pictures as “roughly geometric shapes, without exception blue, black, and gold in colour.” One painting came in for particular criticism, an image that was depicted the Indian Om symbol standing grille-like in front of the Golden Temple. Jung accused Olga of putting the devil between herself and the shrine, and that she had had an affair with the devil. Olga once described her relationship with Jung as “a battle.” However, despite this friction, the two continued to collaborate, building the Eranos Institute and archive. Although she did wryly emphasise that, “Eranos was definitely placed at the service of that principle which C.G. Jung represented (not at his personal service).”
Olga took down the paintings from public display and her later series of works, ‘Visions’, was softer, more figurative, exploring corporeal transformation and the connection between mind and body, painted on paper.
Posthumously, her work has been reevaluated and exhibited at the 2021 exhibition Women in Abstraction at the Centre Pompidou and was the focus of the Deep Knowledge exhibition at Kunsthalle Mainz in Germany. The Eranos Foundation is currently engaged in a project to restore and digitise Olga’s art collection.
Part of the tranche of women artists ignored by the establishment, Olga’s work is gradually becoming recognised by scholars and the art world.
