Josef Twirbutt was born in Lithuania. He graduated from the Gdansk Technical University in Poland receiving his Master of Architecture Degree in 1957. Lived and worked in Paris, France and in New York City from 1959 to 2012. In 1960 he started creating abstract wood structures in his own unique visual and conceptual vocabulary distinguished by its austere grace, and his consummate use of wood texture to achieve subtle variations within a highly disciplined formal context. Each of his compositions has a distinct feeling, a distilled essence of its own, but the dominant attitude reflected in all of them is one of intense, inner stillness and concentration.

He had his first solo art show at the Grand Central Moderns Gallery in 1965 and took part in numerous art shows in the United States, Spain, Monte Carlo, Italy, Belgium and Mexico. In 1969 his works were included in the US State Department traveling exhibition “Art for Embassies” throughout Europe and South America. Large scale installations have included murals at New York City Police Headquarters, the Boston Rehabilitation Center, the Kodak Computer Center in Rochester and IBM Office Products Division Headquarters in Franklin Lakes, NJ. He is represented in the collections of Mexico City Museum of Modern Art, Phoenix Art Museum, Andrew D. White Museum of Art, New York University Art Collection, US State Dept. Art Collection, The Kosciuszko Foundation Art Collection. Silver Medal (1970) and Gold Medal (1972) recipient of the International Academy of Art and Science, Rome, Italy. The Board of Editors of The International “Who is Who in Art” Cambridge, England - Certificate of Merit.

He lives and works in Danville, CA since 2012.