Tag: art glass

Stanisław Borowski is one of the world’s leading artists working in glass. His works appear in all major
international studies on artistic glass. Stanisław Borowski’s trademark are surreal, oneiric sculptures,
stylistically alluding to magical realism. The artist composes them from hand-formed elements, which he
covers with painterly visions by engraving them into a single or multi-coloured layer of glass surrounding
a colourless body. This extremely labour-intensive technique, which requires great patience and precision,
makes it possible to achieve intriguing spatial visual effects.

Stanisław Borowski has three sons who have taken over his love of artistic glass from him. Together with
them and his wife Ewa, he runs the family business Studio Borowski, which has been based in Tomaszów
Bolesławiecki since 1992. Paweł and Stanisław Jan have followed in their father’s footsteps and are
involved in the creation of both unique glass sculptures and highly popular, mass-produced decorative
objects. Wiktor, on the other hand, is responsible for marketing and promotion, while Ewa takes care of
administrative matters.

Stanisław Borowski was born in 1944 in Moûtiers (France), where his father, a miner, had emigrated in
search of work. After the war, in 1948, the Borowski family came to Bolesławiec. Here, Stanisław
Borowski attended primary school from 1953 to 1960. After the family moved to the village of
Nowosielce near Sanok, he graduated from a mechanical technical school and in 1965 was employed at
Krosno Glassworks. Working at making moulds, blowing and grinding glass, he gained versatile
experience.

In 1972, in secret from his family, he set up a workshop in his garage, where he attempted to create
original forms and experimented with various engraving methods. Between 1970 and 1974 he worked
with the State Higher School of Visual Arts in Wrocław. In 1975, he left his job at the glassworks and
began his independent artistic activity. His first international success came in 1980, when his work
entitled Portrait 1 was shortlisted for the second edition of the New Glass Review catalogue. This is a
prestigious compilation of the year’s 100 most interesting achievements in art glass published by the
Corning Museum of Glass (USA). As a result, he received an invitation to an international glass
exhibition in Kassel and a symposium of glass artists in Frauenau, Germany, which were to be held in
1982. When he found it difficult to obtain permission to leave (let us recall that Poland was under martial
law at the time), he decided not to return to the country. One of the artists he met at the symposium helped

him open his own atelier in Rheinbach near Bonn. After the Second World War, the town became a well-
known glass-making centre thanks to a large group of entrepreneurs and glass workers displaced from the

Sudety. Numerous exhibitions in Germany and other countries quickly brought Stanislaw Borowski
international recognition and fame. The real breakthrough came in 1985 with his first exhibition in the
USA. Interest from museums, galleries and collectors in his works proved to be high. To meet the
demand, the artist moved to Hennef, where he opened a new, larger studio. The next, and final, move took
place in 1992, when Studio Borowski began operating in adapted former farm buildings in Tomaszów
Bolesławiec.

Stanisław Borowski has been awarded the Bronze and Gold Medal “Meritorious to Culture Gloria Artis”
for his artistic achievements (2009 and 2014). In 2011, he received an honorary doctorate from the E.
Geppert Academy of Fine Arts in Wrocław.

Paweł Borowski is the eldest son of Stanisław Borowski. He was born in 1969 in Krosno. He started creating in glass in 1989 in his father’s studio. Since 1990, he has functioned as an independent glass artist. As director of Studio Borowski, he is responsible for the development of the Art Objects, Studio Line and Outdoor Objects collections.

Stanisław Jan Borowski is the youngest son of Stanisław Borowski. He was born in 1981 in Krosno. He
began his adventure with artistic glass as a child in his father’s studio. In 2002, he graduated from the
Köln International School of Design and completed a conservation course at the Kurek Studio in Bad
Godesberg, Germany. In 2007 he obtained a diploma from the Koblenz University of Applied Sciences
(Hochschule Koblenz) at the Institute for Ceramics and Artistic Glass. He works and creates using almost
all glass techniques. The most important source of inspiration for him is nature. In the family business, he
creates colourful, unique pieces and artistic series for the Art Objects, Studio Line and Outdoor Objects
collections. As an independent artist, he also carries out numerous projects of his own.

The work of Stanisław Borowski and his sons is valued by collectors and buyers around the world. Their
works can be found in prestigious galleries, museums and private collections, including the Corning
Museum of Glass (USA), the Glasmuseum Frauenau, the Glasmuseum Rheinbach and the Badisches
Landesmuseum in Karlsruhe (Germany), the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris, the National Museum in
Wrocław and the Karkonosze Museum in Jelenia Góra.

We invite you to watch film footage of the Borowski family’s work: