Janusz Grabiański’s parents came from Poznań: his father Wierosław was a bank clerk, his mother Halina née Fibich worked as a bank clerk until her marriage, and later as an assistant in a photographic studio. His cousin’s grandfather was the painter Wacław Masłowski. Until the age of seven, Janusz lived with his parents and younger brother Andrzej in Poznań and Wronki. The Grabiańskis spent the occupation in Kraków.
Between 1949 and 1951, Janusz studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków, then moved to the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw, where he continued his studies between 1952 and 1955 under Professor Jan Marcin Szancer and Professor Józef Mroszczak. His classmates included Danuta Lenica (later Konwicka), Bohdan Butenko, Janusz Stanny and Andrzej Heidrich.
After graduating, Grabiański specialised in illustrating children’s books as well as publishing series, such as the series Around the World released by the State Publishing House Iskry (1956-1994). He also created posters and advertising graphics. In 1974, he created about 400 modernised illustrations to the refreshed version of the famous Elementarz (Primer) by Marian Falski.
In his text About Janusz Grabiański published in Nowe Książki, Szymon Kobyliński emphasised the optimism flowing from the graphic artist’s works:
In the epoch of masochistic scraping of all filth and ulcers of existence by the art of the entire globe, amongst us wandered an artist honoured, not without a reason, with the Order of the Smile, the recipient of which says the formula that ‘in spite of all storms and adversities, I will always be cheerful and bring cheer to others’. Only children have the right to bestow this order on adults, and they decorated Janusz Grabiański with a golden sun – for everything they owed him. For his good-natured spooky fairy tales, for his most colourful landscapes, for his touching menagerie in the poems, for his colourful stories painted with the same warmth, always including something a bit different. There is no Grabiański’s school in book illustration, because it is difficult to achieve a similar temperature of kindness combined with such precise knowledge. There is still a lot to learn from his works though – like the love of life.
Janusz Grabiański was an unquestionable master of watercolour – his light yet expressive works adorn the covers of adventure, travel and fantasy books, often complementing their contents. The artist’s works are distinguished by a wealth of details and colours, but at the same time they seem to be executed with unforced freedom and ease. It is enough to recall the image of the jumping Rogaś z Doliny Roztoki (Rogaś from the Roztoka Valley) from the cover of a book by Maria Kownacka, the swashbuckling Puss in Boots from a work by Hanna Januszewska, strange and exotic animals on the pages of books by Arkady Fiedler or a couple of children bringing a smile to the face from the cover of Marian Falski’s Elementarz (Primer).
He collaborated with many publishing houses in Poland, most often with Iskry and Nasza Księgarnia, as well with international companies. In the text Pędzel Umoczony w Tęczy (Paintbrush Dipped in a Rainbow), Alicja Szubert-Olszewska wrote:
With his artistic visions, he introduced children (and not only children) to the land of subtlety, harmony and poetry. Endowed with virtuoso drawing skills, exceptional taste and absolute chromatic ‘hearing’, he created illustrations which were not only beautiful but also legible, understandable for small readers, excellent in movement and character, witty, supported by the knowledge of realistic painting technique. This artist was able to meet the expectations of his audience without giving up his own unique style and high artistic level.
Grabiański created worlds full of mystery and adventure. His sense of colour, shape and movement, together with his realistic painting technique, allowed him to create illustrations that were attractive and comprehensible, both for the youngest and the youngest. He did not follow the typical fashion of his time, but created his own recognisable style.
Katarzyna Krupka in her text Czy Znacie Pna Mistofelesa, Oryginalnego Kota-magika? Słowem i Obrazem o Kociej Naturze (Do you Know Mr Mistofeles, the Original Cat-Magician? Words and Pictures About the Cat’s Nature), noted:
A special place in cat poetry is occupied by Thomas Stearns Eliot’s 'Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats' written for children. Noteworthy is the 1970 edition of the poetry mentioned in the introduction by Nasz Księgarnia with illustrations by Janusz Grabiański [which] effectively correspond with the written word, creating a unique and exceptional whole. They do not compete with or replace the child’s imagination, they only make the images evoked by the text more vivid. The book is thoughtfully composed, the drawings are concise and expressive, painted with a strong line. The graphics are realistic, accurately reflecting the personality and images of the cats. [...] The cats shown by Janusz Grabiański are intriguing, their big, shiny eyes, staring straight at the reader, encourage him to take a trip on a night train, walk on the roof or play dice. They often look reproachfully at those who interrupt their wanderings or cat naps.
Grabiański also designed posters for such companies as POL-MOT, LOT and Confexim. In 1957, a poster designed by Grabiański won First Prize in a competition organised by LOT Polish Airlines.
The greatest hit was the LOT poster, which caught the eyes of passers-by in the 1960s and later, depicting a cuddly little dog, a brown cocker spaniel, sticking its curious head out of a dark blue travel bag with the company emblem (designed by Tadeusz Gronowski in 1930) and an airport tag: WAW, or in other versions: PAR or NYC. The original advert unobtrusively appealed to the imagination even of those who had never thought about air travel.
It is interesting to note that Janusz Grabiański did not think about a career in art at all. After the war he belonged to a scout aviation team, and even became its troop leader. He took glider flights (Goleszów, Tęgoborze, Bodzów, Muchowiec). In 1949, he obtained a C category licence.
He wanted to become a professional pilot, but unfortunately his visual impairment prevented him from doing so. Tadeusz Malinowski mentioned his passion in Skrzydlata Polska (Winged Poland):
Flying became his dream. Initially, he built flying models and drew planes all the time. During the dark years of the Nazi occupation, he was interested in aviation activities. He read the underground edition of ‘303 Squadron’ with eyes blazing. Influenced by this engaging literature, he created his own illustrations for the book. He tried to recreate the air duels of the Polish fighter pilots fighting in the defence of England in the most suggestive way possible. They could pass as sketches drawn by the participant of these fights – a pilot and a draughtsman at the same time. As early as [...] in 1945, he started flying gliders; first in Bodzów near Kraków, then in Mrągowo, and later in Tęgobórz. It was there, with the excellent 'Baca from Jodłowiec' – Leopold Kwiatkowski – that Janusz performed sailing flights and gained not only category C, but also fulfilled the first condition for the Silver Glider Badge.
The would-be pilot also created postage stamps, including the prized series with images of dogs, cats, birds, butterflies and exotic animals. His fascination with animals began as a child, as he was a regular visitor to the ZOO, and in fact owned a permanent ticket. His stamps with animals reached a total circulation of 90 million pieces.
In 1957 he started cooperating with the Austrian Carl Überreuter Verlag publishing house, and later also with other foreign publishing houses. Agnieszka Dziewulska, editor of Iskra, recalled in the article Cudowna Podróż z Januszem Grabiańskim (A Wonderful Journey with Janusz Grabiański):
The publishers from Vienna were delighted with ‘Rudzia’. They saw it at a book fair in Frankfurt am Main and got in touch with Grabiański. Rudzia [Jadwiga Wernerowa] was released in several different languages, and Bohdan Butenko recalled that when he went to Paris for the first time, the entire shop window of the Flammarion publishing house was occupied by the French edition of the book.
In some of her favourite drawings by Grabiański – such as for Cecylia Lewandowska's Bogatki z Jabłoniowej Wiśni (Great Tits from the Cherry Tree) – Agnieszka Dziewulska saw 'inspiration from Japanese graphics'.
including Finland, Japan, Israel, South Africa, USA, Great Britain, Soviet Union, France, Italy, Sweden, Germany and Hungary. In a span of less than 25 years, he illustrated several hundred books of Polish and foreign classics, including O Krasnoludkach i o Sierotce Marysi (About Dwarfs and Little Orphan Mary) by Maria Konopnicka (the book was placed on the Honorary List of the Hans Christian Andersen Award for Illustrations, 1976), The Wonderful Journey by Selma Lagerlöf, Fairy Tales by Charles Perrault and The Adventures of Pelle No-Tail by Gösta Knutsson.
Małgorzata Grodzicka in her essay Kot i Gwiazdy (The Cat and The Stars) referred to illustrations included in the latter book:
Filonek by Janusz Grabiański has all the feline qualities of the feline genre, he is cute, but also feisty, he has a pink nose, but this does not mean he is a cute kitten. The covers of newer editions deserve to be called kitsch.