Their activities combined elements of occultism, alchemy and theosophy with archaic and magical Silesian beliefs. Ociepka and his disciples, simple uneducated miners, searched for the Philosophers Stone and pursued spiritual perfection, which would permit them to penetrate the Principle and the Sense of the World and of God, to reach the mystery of Existence. "In the Polish town of Janow, during the 1930s, an occult commune was formed around Teofil Ociepka, an electrician at the local coal mine and a painter, who became a Master of Esoteric Science. The following is a plot description of the 2002 film "Angeleus" directed by Lech Majewski that centers around the artist and his familiar circle of painters. That was in 1927 and, from that time on, I began to paint and have been painting ever since with unfaltering joy and pleasure.” (Wisłocki 2010:43). Eustachy Kossakowski/FORUM.undefined was born in my soul, which could be called love for the essence of beauty, that is for God.
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He claimed: “ wrote to me: ‘Teofil, a spirit will come to you and will teach you how to paint.’ I have never seen any spirit, but something Teofil Ociepka - Malarz. Ociepka believed that it was Hohmann who made him an artist with a spiritual purpose. "One of the most interesting esoteric-related moments in Teofil Ociepka’s life was his awakening as a painter. He died on Janufrom a brain aneurysm." - quote source Under her influence he broke contact with the Janowska Group and distanced himself from occultism.
Ociepka was a member until 1959, when he permanently moved to join his wife in Bydgoszcz. The group was known as "Janowska Group" after its birthplace, or more formally, as the Circle of Non-professional Painters. In 1947 the group was reorganized as an Art Circle associated with the Cultural Center "KWK Wieczorek", which during the 1950s provided a base for a talented group of amateur artists. In 1946 Ociepka partnered with Otto Klimczok to found an art group. The themes of his works, especially those from before 1956, were criticized as not adhering to the canon of socialist realism. They are characterized by wealth of imagination and bright, rich colors. Later, his works depicted themes from fairy tales, legends, and lives of miners. During the early 1950s, in an attempt at political correctness, they were interpreted as Paleozoic Era landscapes. His paintings depicting the imaginary fauna and flora of Saturn relate to the Rosicrucian ideology. He saw his painting as God's mission, and so tried to portray absolutist themes, including the struggle between Good and Evil. The Warsaw exhibition launched Ociepka's great world-class artistic career. He probably returned to painting either before or during World War II.Īfter the war, he gained a supporter in the author Isabel Czajka-Stachowicz, who in 1948 organized for him an exhibition in Warsaw, promoting him as "Polish Douanier Rousseau." She was aided by her friends, Julian Tuwim and Jan Kott. He gave up his attempts in 1930 after receiving criticism from Tadeusz Dobrowolski, a Polish professor of art history and museum curator. Hohmann persuaded Ociepka to start painting circa 1927. He believed that he had a spiritual link with his master who telepathically inspired his art. He maintained contact with the Julian Ochorowicz Parapsychological Society of Lvov. On Hohmann's direction, he organized a strong occultist community in Janów. On the recommendation of his Swiss mentor, Philip Hohmann of Wittenberg, with whom he maintained steady correspondence, Ociepka became a member of the Rosicrucian Lodge and attained the status of Master of Secret Sciences. When he returned to Janów, he brought back with him the first works on occultism, including Athanasius Kircher's treatise on the Seventy Two Names of God. During World War I he served as a soldier in the German Army, where he was introduced to occultism. His occupation was a miner, working at the Giesche's coal mine in Katowice as a machinist in the power plant. Along with Nikifor, he was one of the best known Polish primitivists. "Teofil Ociepka (Apin Janów Śląski – Januin Bydgoszcz) was a Polish self-taught primitivist painter, occultist, and theosophist. Teofil Ociepka with his family, 1973, photo by Janusz Rosikoń
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