RAFAL OLBINSKI (POLISH B.1943) Fryderyk Chopin oil on canvas 70 x 47 cm (27 1/2 x 18 1/2 in.) framed dimensions: 85 x 63 cm (33 1/2 x 24 3/4 in.) signed lower right PROVENANCE Acquired directly from the Artist The Stanisław and Alicja Jonas Collection LOT NOTES Lots 25 through 71 in this auction, are being offered directly from the Estate of the esteemed Polish art collectors, Stanisław and Alicja Jonas, two remarkable individuals whose lives were defined by resilience, intellect, and a profound dedication to the arts. Stanisław Jonas, a survivor of the Warsaw Ghetto, built a life of purpose and compassion in New York as a respected psychiatrist and counselor. His deep appreciation for the arts was more than a personal passion; it was an extension of his worldview and a form of cultural preservation. Alicja Jonas, a gifted pianist, composer, and teacher, brought her own artistic brilliance to their shared life. Having endured the hardships of wartime Poland, she immigrated to the United States in the late 1960s to reunite with Stanisław and dedicated her career to music education and composition. Together, the Jonas’s created a home filled with creativity, conversation, and artistic exploration. Their art collection reflects not only a refined aesthetic sensibility but also a lifetime of personal connections with artists and gallerists. Many of the works were acquired directly from artists whose work they admired and whose friendships they cultivated. Their relationships with key figures in the Polish and New York art scenes were essential to the development of their collection. Among the artists represented are Barbara Falender, known for her intimate sculptural forms; Rafał Olbiński, celebrated for his dreamlike surrealism; Stanisław Młodożeniec, whose expressive color and form shaped postwar Polish painting; and Krystyna Brzechwa, whose delicate compositions reflect a poetic sensibility. The collection also includes two exceptional works by Henryk Stażewski, one of the leading figures of the Polish avant-garde and a pioneer of geometric abstraction in Eastern Europe. These pieces, rare in both quality and provenance, anchor the collection in the broader trajectory of modernist innovation. Over the years, the Jonas’s cultivated meaningful relationships with several galleries that supported emerging and established Polish artists, including the Zabriskie Gallery, and Z. Michael Legutko Gallery. Their collecting was never speculative; it was personal, intentional, and grounded in dialogue, friendship, and shared cultural history. This auction offers not only a selection of fine works of art but also a portrait of a life deeply engaged with the creative world. Each piece in this collection tells a story of connection, conviction, and cultural continuity. To collect from the Jonas estate is to inherit a piece of this remarkable legacy. We are honored to present the Stanisław and Alicja Jonas Collection, a testament to two lives lived with courage, elegance, and unwavering dedication to art. Rafal Olbinski (b. 1943) a well-known Polish artist, painter, and illustrator, known for his magic surrealist style, that has been compared to works of Rene Magritte. Olbinski played a major role in the Polish School of Posters, utilizing humor and fantasy making the distinction between designer and artist less apparent. In 1981 Olbinski immigrated to the United States where he gained recognition. In 1996 he designed a poster for the the 25th Earth Day Anniversary for the U.S. Information Agency. From 2002-2010 Olbinski works were presented in the Grand Space projection in Grand Central Terminal, as a highlight of the Earth Day Celebration in New York. The other artists featured in the show are Keith Haring, Roy Lichtenstein, Robert Rauschenberg, and Andy Warhol. Olbinski had several one-person retrospectives: in 2001 in the Willy-Brandt House in Berlin, in 2008 in Cologne, and in 2009 he had a large museum exhibition at The Jule Collins Smith Museum in Auburn entitled "New Dreams of Old Values". Rafal Olbinski's works are included in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art (Poster Collection), the Carnegie Foundation in New York, National Arts Club in New York, the Smithsonian Institution and the Library of Congress in Washington, Suntory Museum in Osaka, Japan, the Poster Museum in Warsaw, Poland, and other.