Information about the artist's death was reported on Wednesday evening by “Dziennik Zachodni” and other regional media. “Although she spent the last years of her life outside Poland, living with her daughter in Hamburg, she never lost contact with Silesia,” wrote “DZ.”
What films did Barbara Ptak design costumes for?
Where was Barbara Ptak born?
What awards did Barbara Ptak receive?
When was the Barbara and Stanisław Ptak Museum opened?
Her colleagues and friends say goodbye to Barbara Ptak on social media. “Almost exactly 9 years ago, in the then Museum in Chorzów, we opened an exhibition of her Chorzów costumes (…) During this time, the world managed to dance several times, capsize, collapse, and rebuild itself, but the memories remained,” wrote the municipal conservator of monuments in Chorzów, Anna Piontek, on Facebook.
“In preparation for the exhibition, her sketches taught me that since life is a theater, the details are important only to those who are close, for the rest only exaggerated effects and colors visible from a distance matter. That's why you need to know who is worth trying for,” she added. As she recalled, Barbara Ptak also created costumes for the Entertainment Theater in Chorzów – for performances titled “Fiddler on the Roof”, “Jekyll & Hyde” or “Sisters-in-law”.
Journalist Marianna Dufek also remembered the deceased artist. “Barbara Ptak has passed away – an artist, costume designer, beautiful woman, and above all, a wonderful human being. Her talent created film history,” she wrote.
Barbara Ptak is dead. Achievements, career
Barbara Ptak was born in 1930 in Chorzów, and was associated with Katowice for many years. She was a graduate of the Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow and Warsaw. She created the visual setting for over 200 theater, opera, musical and film productions.
She designed costumes for the largest cinema and television productions. Four films for which she created costumes received Oscar nominations. These were: “Knife in the Water” directed by Roman Polański, “Pharaoh” by Jerzy Kawalerowicz, “The Promised Land” by Andrzej Wajda and “Nights and Days” by Jerzy Antczak.
She was the winner of many awards, including: Minister of Culture and Art, several Golden Masks of the Silesian Voivodeship, the Award of the Mayor of Katowice and the silver medal “Gloria Artis for Merit to Culture”.
In 2011, the Barbara and Stanisław Ptak Museum was opened in Katowice, as a branch of the Katowice History Museum. It featured, among others: the outfit worn by Aleksandra Śląska as Queen Bona, furniture and personal trinkets of Mr. and Mrs. Ptak. The museum is an adaptation of the Birds' former apartment. Original interiors, antique furniture and other objects create an individual, artistic atmosphere of this place. Barbara Ptak's husband, who died in 2002, was a singer and actor, one of the greatest personalities of Polish musical theater and operetta. He also appeared in musicals and musical comedies.
