Rafal Olbinski, Incography, Defense Agains Banality (Defense Against Banality)

Inkograph, print, paper, 42 x 62 cm. Signature (obverse) l.d. Edition I/XX, p.d. Artist's signature,


This work is a top quality reproduction in print on paperboard also known as Inkography, issued in a limited edition. The number of this copy is I/XX, a very high number sought after by collectors. This is a Reproduction of one of the most recognizable paintings by Rafal Olbinski in one of his best versions. The dimension 42 x 62 cm given in the description refers to the print itself, while the cardboard on which the incograph is made has the dimension B2, i.e. 50 by 70 cm.

Rafal Olbinski - an outstanding painter and graphic artist associated with the Contemporary Art Gallery and the Koneser.art Auction House - was born in 1943 in Kielce. He graduated from Kielce's Stefan Zeromski First High School, and then from Warsaw University of Technology, receiving his diploma from the Faculty of Architecture in 1969. After graduation, he became interested in art, realizing himself as a graphic designer, including working with the Jazz Forum magazine. In 1981, Rafal Olbinski left for Paris, and a year later moved permanently to New York. There, in 1985, he took a job as a lecturer at the School of Visual Arts. He received more than 150 awards for his work, including gold and silver medals from the Art Directors Club in New York and gold and silver medals from the Society of Illustrators in New York and Los Angeles. In 1994, Rafal Olbinski received the international Oscar for Most Significant Poster of the Year and the Prix Savignac in Paris. In the same year, he also received Creative Review magazine's award in London for Best British Illustration. A year later, his poster was named the winner in the "New York City Capital of the World" competition by a jury chaired by the city's mayor Rudolf Guliani, and Rafal Olbinski himself received the Stephan Dohanos Award given by members of the Society of New York Illustrators for the best work of the year. In 2002, Rafal Olbinski was awarded the "Premio Divina Guilia" prize by the city of Fondi in Italy for his outstanding contribution to contemporary art. His works are in the collections of prestigious institutions such as The National Arts Club in New York, the Smithsonian Institute and Library of Congres in Washington and the Suntory Museum in Osaka, as well as in many private and corporate collections in the US, Japan and Europe. In 2002, selected paintings by Rafal Olbinski were included in a program of projections at Grand Central Station in New York City, in the Great Art pantheon in honor of Earth Day celebrations. On May 3, 2012, Rafal Olbinski was awarded the Officer's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta "for outstanding contributions to the promotion and dissemination of Polish and world culture, for achievements in artistic and creative work." Please note that the sides of the paintings on the stretcher (the so-called painter's loom), are not damaged by: splashes from the paint (e.g., on the unpainted side of the painting), traces of the plates attaching the stretcher to the frame (so-called flexes) or unevenly cut canvas. The above do not constitute grounds for complaint, as they are not the obverse and reverse of the painting.