A MEETING WITH RAFAL OLBINSKI - March 13, 1999 Members of the Helena Modjeska Art and Culture Club enjoyed a real feast. Rafal Olbinski, the world-famous illustrator and painter, recipient of more than a hundred awards, agreed to meet with us at the hospitable Pilatowicz residence. Olbinski was visiting Los Angeles at the invitation of the Pasadena Art Center College of Design and its Professor, our Club Member, Leonard Konopelski. Leonard introduced our guest and skillfully guided the meeting and the presentation.

Olbinski conquered the audience completely. We had known about his achievements, most of us had seen his work, but we were not really prepared for his personality. His intellectual brilliance, acute sense of humor, and poetic perception of the world reflected in his work, surprisingly coincide with a no-nonsense, down-to-earth sense of reality. He knows his own value and standing but one could not find the slightest trace of conceit or vanity in his demeanor. Olbinski showed us slides of his work, beginning with early posters created in Poland, years ago when Poland was the A world capital of poster, followed by the illustrations and posters that won him recognition, fame and numerous awards in the USA and worldwide, ending with his most recent illustrations and paintings. The story of his success, in his own words, is the story of hard work, a lot of hard work, talent, and good luck. A formula simple enough to be dull. Olbinski made it fascinating. We were in turn touched, fascinated or amused, contemplative, solemn or joyful. The world in his story looked different, revealed unusual possibilities and mysteries, very much like the world we were admiring on the screen. Much has been written about Olbinski, experts have used all the learned terms and appropriate adjectives, but I believe they overlooked the obvious: He is a magician. When the evening was ending some ladies commented on his good looks, many of us grasped the opportunity to purchase a sample of his work - a poster or a calendar - but all of us carried that heartwarming feelingts: Olbinski is one of us and we are proud of him! - Andrzej Lowkis www.polonia.net/sztuka/olbinski/olbinski.html

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