Rafał OLBIŃSKI, Stairway to Heaven

Pencil, paper, 70 x 50 cm, signed l.d. Olbinski 2020. enclosed author's certificate of authenticity.

Born in Kielce. Polish painter, graphic artist and poster designer. Artist after the Warsaw University of Technology, which he graduated in 1969 with a degree in Architecture. After graduation he took up graphic design, collaborating with the magazine "Jazz Forum". In 1981 he left for Paris, from where a year later he emigrated permanently to New York. In 1985 he took a job as a lecturer at the New York School of Visual Arts. Rafal Olbinski's works are exhibited both in numerous galleries and museums, i.e. the Library of Congress, the Museum of Modern Art in Toyama and the Carnegie Foundation in New York, the Poster Museum in Wilanow. They are also collected by private collectors around the world. Rafal Olbinski also collaborates with magazines, i.e. "The New York Times", "Newsweek", "BusinessWeek" and "Der Spiegel". In Poland, he has been involved in designing album covers, such as Krzysztof Klencz's Powiedz stary gdzieś ty był (Pronit SX 1614) and Breakout's Żagiel Ziemi (Pronit SX 1821).From 1997 to 2003, he also regularly created covers for the Polish psychological monthly "Charaktery" and was co-creator of the magazine's graphic image. His work has been widely awarded at many international competitions. In 1995 he was awarded first prize in the "New York City Capital of the World" competition - for a poster promoting New York as the capital of the world. In 1994 he won the so-called International Oscar for the most unforgettable poster in the world in the "Prix Savignac" competition in Paris, and in 1976 the first prize in the competition of the Institute for Human Rights in Strasbourg. By the mid-1990s, he had accumulated about 100 awards[4]. In a decision dated April 24, 2012, he was awarded the Officer's Cross of the Order of Rebirth of Poland by President Bronislaw Komorowski for his outstanding contributions to Polish and world culture, for his achievements in creative and artistic work. The honor ceremony took place on May 3, 2012.