Rafał Olbiński

name: Rafał Olbiński

born: 1943

He is a recipient of over 150 awards of which the most prestigious are:

• 1994 The Artistic Oscar for the Most Significant Poster of the Year, Prix Savignac in Paris
• 1994 The Prize of the Creative Review Magazine for the best British illustration, London
• 1995 The First Prize in the New York City Capital of the World contest.
• 1996 The Stephan Dohanos Award for the best work of the year, granted by the members of the Society of Illustrators in New York
• 2002 The Premio Divina Guilia Award for the outstanding contribution to contemporary art, City of Fondi, Italy
• 2006 The Gloria Artist Gold Medal awarded by the President of the Republic of Poland

Olbinski’s works can be admired in numerous world-renowned galleries and museums, such as the National Arts Club in New York, the Smithsonian Institute and the Library of Congress in Washington and the Suntory Museum in Osaka. Numerous private collections in the US, Japan and Europe pride themselves on possessing his works. In 2002, a selection of his artwork was included in the projection at Grand Central Station in New York in the Great Art pantheon as one of the attractions to celebrate Earth Day, together with works of other artists, such as Keith Haring, Roy Lichtenstein, Robert Rauschenberg or Andy Warhol.

Rafal Olbinski is also the author of numerous theatre and opera posters created for the New York City Opera, Utah Opera, Pacific Opera San Francisco and Philadelphia Opera, to mention just a few. In 2002, he enjoyed a vastly successful debut as an opera set designer for Don Giovanni at the Philadelphia Opera. In the Grand Theatre – the National Opera in Warsaw, he created a poster for Verdi’s Don Carlos and for La dolce vita ballet. He also designed a stage set and a poster for the performance of Rossini’s The Journey to Reims.

A 30-meter high extraordinary curtain designed by Rafal Olbinski delights the onlookers in the main hall of the Bialystok Opera House. The artist designs posters for many prestigious international institutions. On the request of the U.S. Information Agency, Olbinski designed a poster commemorating the 25th anniversary of Earth Day. Olbinski’s works were shown in many influential magazines like Newsweek, Time, The New York Times, Business Week and Der Spiegel. The works of such a talented artist merit a better acquaintance so that viewers themselves can verify other people’s opinions about him:

In his paintings, Rafal Olbinski creates a perfect world. It is a world full of metaphors and implications where every detail seems to be hiding a secret or be a piece of a puzzle, inviting the viewer to come and discover the meaning of each element step by step. (…) But it is the human being who plays the vital part in the show.
Malgorzata Lemanek, the Marchand Showroom Manager

Each of Olbinski’s paintings opens a world of delights of new discoveries. It sends us floating in the clouds among flowers and beautiful shapes. He makes us believe we are characters of a fairy tale. 
Andre Parinaud, President of the International Poster Showroom in Washington

Olbinski is a painter-poet, who presents the image of our world while producing broader reflections. 
Anne-Julie Belmont, Universe of Arts, Paris

 (…) his illustrations and paintings provide unusual ideas and visualize emotions (…). 
Stefan Aust, Der Spiegel, Editor in Chief