Zbigniew Horbowy

Zbigniew Horbowy (28 October 1935 in Łanczyn – 17 June 2019 in Polanica-Zdrój ) was a Polish artist working in industrial design, both artistic and applied glassmaking, professor at the Faculty of Ceramics and Glass and rector of the Wrocław Academy of Fine Arts. He was an influential Polish designer of utility glass and created his own design school.

Early life and education Horbowy was born in Poland, in the village of Łanczyn in the county of Nadwórna (now Nadvirna Raion), in the former Stanisławów Voivodeship in what is now Ukraine. His family soon moved to the city of Kolomyia. After World War II he and his family were forcibly resettled from Kolomyia to Kargowa near Zielona Góra in western Poland, where he attended elementary school. He went to high school in nearby Wolsztyn.

Although Horbowy had intended to attend the Silesian University of Technology, as he had always been interested in mechanics, he was persuaded to apply to the State College of Fine Arts in Wrocław, where he was admitted in 1953.

In 1974, on his initiative, HSG opened the "Barbara" Glassworks in Polanica Zdrój, with Horbowy as artistic director. and Ryszard Bilan.

Awards and honours 1996 – Silver Ace Award of the Polish Foundation Promotion 2009 – Gold Medal for Merit to Culture – Gloria Artis 2018 – Wrocław Diamond Prize 2018 – Honorary Award of the City of Wrocław 2019 – Cultural Award of Silesia (Nagroda Kulturalna Śląska)