1922
Paul, or “Paulică,” as he was known to his friends throughout his life, was born in Sinaia on July 17, the third son of Vladimir and Elena Bortnowski. His father was the son of a Polish refugee who had settled in Botoșani around 1864. Vladimir moved to Sinaia before the First World War, where he established a construction company. Many houses and public buildings in Sinaia were designed and built by him in collaboration with renowned architects of the time. He shared a particularly close friendship with the architect Paul Smărăndescu, who might even have become Paul’s godfather had he not been prevented from attending the christening by a snowstorm.
1932
His father’s profession and professional ethics had an evident influence on the lives of all three sons: Stănică, the eldest brother, became an architect; Vladimir, known as Puiu, became a structural engineer; and Paul too would follow the path of architecture. Their mother Elena, born in Giurgiu, constantly showed great warmth and affection toward her three children, something Paul often recalled throughout his life.
After completing primary school in Sinaia, when the time came for Paul to attend high school, the family moved to Bucharest, to the neighborhood behind the Patriarchate Hill, near Carol Park. Paul attended Mihai Eminescu High School.
1941
He enrolled at the “Ion Mincu” School of Architecture in Bucharest, where his professors included Constantin Iotzu and Haralamb Georgescu. The war affected the fate of the Bortnowski family, as it did so many Romanian families. The two older brothers served on the Eastern Front and managed to survive. Paul was conscripted too late to fight at the front.
As a student, he worked in the offices of several established architects of the period — Creangă, Georgescu, and Doicescu — and also in the architectural service of the Royal Estates in Sinaia under the guidance of the architect Jean Ernest.
1949
His modernist diploma project, entitled “The Architect’s House,” was criticized for its “formalism.”
1951
After graduation, employed at the Chamber of Foreign Trade, he designed exhibition environments for Romanian pavilions at several international fairs.
Encouraged by Liviu Ciulei, with whom he had studied at university and formed a lifelong friendship, he decided to temporarily abandon “pure” architecture and enter the field of film set design. His first films — Mitrea Cocor, Nepoții Gornistului, and Răsare Soarele — bore the artistic expression of the Stalinist period.
He worked together with Liviu Ciulei and Mircea Bodianu on the film Erupția.
1956
He made his debut as a theatre set designer with the play Cauțiunea by Hans Locke (in collaboration with Mircea Bodianu) at the Film Actor’s Studio in Bucharest.
1958
At the Municipal Theatre (later the Lucia Sturdza Bulandra Theatre), he designed the sets for The Rainmaker by Richard Nash, directed by Liviu Ciulei. The costumes were created by Maria Bortnowski, the wife of his elder brother, Stănică. At the Municipal Theatre he collaborated with major directors such as Liviu Ciulei, Lucian Pintilie, Radu Penciulescu, Dinu Negreanu, Dinu Cernescu, Mony Ghelerter, and Valeriu Moisescu. He would also design sets for theatres in Iași, Oradea, Târgu Mureș, Brașov, Galați, and Brăila.
1962
Among others, the sets for productions such as Caesar and Cleopatra by Bernard Shaw, My Heart’s in the Highlandsby William Saroyan, Holiday Games by Mihail Sebastian, I Am Not the Eiffel Tower by Ecaterina Oproiu, The Death of Danton by Georg Büchner, The Winter’s Tale by William Shakespeare, and Exit the King by Eugène Ionesco marked his work of the 1960s.
1963
Particularly significant was his collaboration with Lucian Pintilie, with whom he formed a close friendship that would lead to many remarkable moments in both theatre and film.
He participated in the competition for the new National Theatre together with his brother Stan and Liviu Ciulei. Their solution was innovative — a sloped stage tower following the audience’s line of sight.
Working with Liviu Ciulei, then director of the Bulandra Theatre, he developed a renovation and modernization project for the Studio Hall at Grădina Icoanei. This project underwent multiple iterations until the 1990s, representing for Paul Bortnovski a major creative, architectural, and emotional undertaking. Unfortunately, due to budgetary and political difficulties, the project was never realized.
The Izvor Villa in Cioplea, Predeal, was completed.
1964
He was named Merited Artist for his activity in the visual arts.
1968
At the same time, he taught and became head of the scenography department at the “Nicolae Grigorescu” Institute of Fine Arts. He formed deep friendships and professional relationships with Ion Bitzan and Vladimir (Doru) Șetran, collaborating over many years in the training of numerous generations of scenographers, and together they participated in and won several monumental art competitions.
1969
Together with Ion Bitzan and Vladimir Șetran, he founded the Design Department at the “Nicolae Grigorescu” Institute of Fine Arts.
1973
The banning, after only four performances, of Gogol’s The Government Inspector, staged by Lucian Pintilie, and the removal of Liviu Ciulei from the leadership of the theatre made collaborations with the Municipal Theatre more difficult.
1981
Although he had also designed sets for the National Theatre in Bucharest during the 1960s, in 1973 he officially joined the institution. The production of Danton by Camil Petrescu, directed by Horea Popescu, enjoyed great success, and the sets — using galvanized sheet metal — created a powerful impact on audiences.
At the National Theatre he worked with successful directors of the period such as Sanda Manu, Letiția Popa, Horea Popescu, Cornel Todea, Anca Ovanez-Doroșenco, and Grigore Gonța, as well as leading costume designers including Doina Levința, Elena Pătrășcanu-Veakis, Smaranda Brănescu, and Gabriela Nazarie.
1983
He collaborated with Lucian Pintilie and Doina Levința on the film Why Are the Bells Ringing, Mitică?, based on the writings of I. L. Caragiale. The film would not reach cinemas until after 1989.
1984
The play The Pelican Reservation by D.R. Popescu, staged by Valeriu Moisescu at the Lucia Sturdza Bulandra Theatre, was his last set design for that theatre.
The Inheritance by Titus Popovici, directed by Horea Popescu, was his final set design at the National Theatre in 1984.
1985
Paul Bortnovski’s architectural training and way of thinking influenced his creative work throughout his life. His technical and structural solutions, remarkable for their innovative force, emerged from this foundation. At the same time, abstraction and poetic reverie continually permeated his creative process. Over the years he sketched various scenographies and virtual spaces that he called “Proposals and False Proposals, Poetic Spatial Meditations.”
This same field of exploration also includes the environmental and landscape ensemble at Amara and the drawings for the systematization of the Botanical Garden in Iași.
THE Ceaușescu REGIME FALLS
1989
1993
The sets created in collaboration with Călin Papură for Pintilie’s film An Unforgettable Summer emphasize the tragic atmosphere of the film and once again demonstrate the communication and convergence of vision between the remarkable director and scenographer.
UNITER awarded him its prize for lifetime artistic achievement.
1995
He was active within OISTAT (the International Organisation of Scenographers, Theatre Architects and Technicians), promoting theatre technology and architecture, and served as President of the Romanian Centre of the organization between 1995 and 2000.
2000
He received the National Order for Merit in the rank of Grand Officer.
2002
He received the National Prize of the Ministry of Culture and Religious Affairs for lifetime artistic achievement.
He was awarded the Prometheus Grand Prize “Opera Omnia,” presented by the Anonimul Foundation.
2007
He left this world in October, accompanied on his final journey by many of those who loved and admired him, who collaborated with him, or whose careers he touched forever with his talent.