Benno Schotz
Encyclopedia
Benno Schotz was a Scottish
artist.
, Pärnu
, Estonia
, then at the Grossherzogliche Technische Hochschule in Darmstadt
, Germany
.
In 1912, he emigrated to Glasgow, where he gained an engineering
diploma from the Royal Technical College. From 1914-1923 he worked in the drawing office of John Brown and Company, a Clydebank
shipbuilder
s, while attending evening classes in sculpture
at the Glasgow School of Art
.
, head of sculpture at the Glasgow School of Art (a post he held from 1938 until his retirement in 1961), and eventually was appointed the Sculptor in Ordinary for Scotland
in 1963. His pupils included the artists Hannah Frank
and Inge King (née Neufeld)
.
His homes at West Campbell Street and later Kirklee Road were a focus for meetings of artists, writers, actors, and politicians. He was also a member of Glasgow Art Club
. He also helped refugees such as Jankel Adler
and Josef Herman
.
He was a committed Zionist, and also proud of his adopted Scotland
. He worked until a few weeks before his death at the age of 93. He was buried in Jerusalem.
He was made a Freeman of the City of Glasgow in 1981. In that same year, he published his autobiography, Bronze In My Blood.
is on public display at the Maxton remembrance garden in Barrhead
near Paisley. Other publicly-accessible work includes:
The majority of these works were all in Glasgow and the surrounding area. He was responsible for the repair on the bridge sculpture at Kelvingrove Park beside the now refurbished art gallery and museum.
Although Benno Schotz is frequently referred to as an Estonian sculptor, all his professional life was in Scotland. He became a naturalized British subject in 1930.
He became a full member of the Royal Scottish Academy, 1937. He headed the Sculpture and Ceramics dept. of the Glasgow School of Art from 1938 until his retirement in 1960. His active life as a sculptor continued thereafter with renewed vigor and he created his most ambitious and monumental works over the next 20 years.
In 1963, he was appointed The Sculptor in Ordinary for Scotland, a member of the Royal household.
A major retrospective exhibition of his works (1971) was held at the Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh.
His interest in the drawing of trees developed, the drawings becoming more and more complex and abstract. He mounted a successful exhibition of Sculptures and Related Drawings in Glasgow (1961). His last sculpture was executed less than six weeks before his death, aged 93.
He was Life-President of the Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts.
Honors include: Freedom of the City of Glasgow; Honorary Fellow of The Hebrew University; Honorary LL.D, Strathclyde University; Honorary Member of the British Society of British Sculptors; Honorary Member of the Royal Institute of Architects in Scotland.
Source: his daughter, Mrs. S.C. Crome, and son, Mr. A. M Schotz.
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
artist.
Early life
Schotz was the youngest of six children of Jewish parents, Jacob Schotz, a watchmaker, and Cherna Tischa Abramovitch. He was educated at the GymnasiumGymnasium (school)
A gymnasium is a type of school providing secondary education in some parts of Europe, comparable to English grammar schools or sixth form colleges and U.S. college preparatory high schools. The word γυμνάσιον was used in Ancient Greece, meaning a locality for both physical and intellectual...
, Pärnu
Pärnu
Pärnu is a city in southwestern Estonia on the coast of Pärnu Bay, an inlet of the Gulf of Riga in the Baltic Sea. It is a popular summer vacation resort with many hotels, restaurants, and large beaches. The Pärnu River flows through the city and drains into the Gulf of Riga...
, Estonia
Estonia
Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...
, then at the Grossherzogliche Technische Hochschule in Darmstadt
Darmstadt
Darmstadt is a city in the Bundesland of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Rhine Main Area.The sandy soils in the Darmstadt area, ill-suited for agriculture in times before industrial fertilisation, prevented any larger settlement from developing, until the city became the seat...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
.
In 1912, he emigrated to Glasgow, where he gained an engineering
Engineering
Engineering is the discipline, art, skill and profession of acquiring and applying scientific, mathematical, economic, social, and practical knowledge, in order to design and build structures, machines, devices, systems, materials and processes that safely realize improvements to the lives of...
diploma from the Royal Technical College. From 1914-1923 he worked in the drawing office of John Brown and Company, a Clydebank
Clydebank
Clydebank is a town in West Dunbartonshire, in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. Situated on the north bank of the River Clyde, Clydebank borders Dumbarton, the town with which it was combined to form West Dunbartonshire, as well as the town of Milngavie in East Dunbartonshire, and the Yoker and...
shipbuilder
Shipbuilding
Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and floating vessels. It normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation that traces its roots to before recorded history.Shipbuilding and ship repairs, both...
s, while attending evening classes in sculpture
Sculpture
Sculpture is three-dimensional artwork created by shaping or combining hard materials—typically stone such as marble—or metal, glass, or wood. Softer materials can also be used, such as clay, textiles, plastics, polymers and softer metals...
at the Glasgow School of Art
Glasgow School of Art
Glasgow School of Art is one of only two independent art schools in Scotland, situated in the Garnethill area of Glasgow.-History:It was founded in 1845 as the Glasgow Government School of Design. In 1853, it changed its name to The Glasgow School of Art. Initially it was located at 12 Ingram...
.
Artistic career
Schotz became a full time sculptor in 1923. From this point onwards his reputation grew and he became a full member of the Royal Scottish AcademyRoyal Scottish Academy
The Royal Scottish Academy is a Scottish organisation that promotes contemporary Scottish art. Founded in 1826, as the Royal Institution for the Encouragement of the Fine Arts, the RSA maintains a unique position in Scotland as an independently funded institution led by eminent artists and...
, head of sculpture at the Glasgow School of Art (a post he held from 1938 until his retirement in 1961), and eventually was appointed the Sculptor in Ordinary for Scotland
Sculptor in Ordinary for Scotland
The Sculptor in Ordinary for Scotland is a member of the Royal household in Scotland. The first appointment was made by Queen Victoria around 1838, although it was not listed as a member of the Royal household until the 1870s. The office was made permanent in 1921.-Office holders:Holders of the...
in 1963. His pupils included the artists Hannah Frank
Hannah Frank
Hannah Frank was an artist and sculptor from Glasgow, Scotland.Hannah was the daughter of a Jewish Russian refugee, Charles Frank, a notable camera maker, and grew up in the Laurieston district of the Gorbals. She studied art at the University of Glasgow...
and Inge King (née Neufeld)
Inge King
Inge King is a prominent Australian sculptor, who has many significant public, commercial, and private sculpture commissions to her credit....
.
His homes at West Campbell Street and later Kirklee Road were a focus for meetings of artists, writers, actors, and politicians. He was also a member of Glasgow Art Club
Glasgow Art Club
Glasgow Art Club is a club for practicing and retired artists and lay members with an interest in the arts, that has become over the generations “a meeting place for artists, business leaders and academics.” - History and premises :...
. He also helped refugees such as Jankel Adler
Jankel Adler
Jankel Adler was a Polish painter and printmaker.-Biography:He was born as the seventh of ten children in Tuszyn, a suburb of Łódź. In 1912 he began training as an engraver with his uncle in Belgrade. He moved in 1914 to Germany where he lived for a time with his sister in Barmen...
and Josef Herman
Josef Herman
Josef Herman, also known in Wales as Joe Bach , was a highly regarded Polish-British realist painter who influenced contemporary art, particularly in the United Kingdom . His work often had subjects of workers and was inherently political...
.
He was a committed Zionist, and also proud of his adopted Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
. He worked until a few weeks before his death at the age of 93. He was buried in Jerusalem.
He was made a Freeman of the City of Glasgow in 1981. In that same year, he published his autobiography, Bronze In My Blood.
Work
During his career, Schotz produced several hundred portraits and compositions including figure compositions, religious sculptures, semi-abstracts and modelled portraits. His bust of James MaxtonJames Maxton
James Maxton was a Scottish socialist politician, and leader of the Independent Labour Party. A prominent proponent of Home Rule for Scotland, he is remembered as one of the leading figures of the Red Clydeside era.-Early years:...
is on public display at the Maxton remembrance garden in Barrhead
Barrhead
Barrhead is a town in East Renfrewshire, Scotland, southwest of Glasgow on the edge of the Gleniffer Braes. As of the 2001 census its population was 19,813....
near Paisley. Other publicly-accessible work includes:
- Memorial to Provost John Jarvie of KilsythKilsythKilsyth is a town of 10,100 roughly halfway between Glasgow and Stirling in North Lanarkshire, Scotland.-Location:...
, first freeman of the burgh, commissioned in 1954 is a portrait in relief and can be seen in John Jarvie Square, off East Burnside Street, KilsythKilsythKilsyth is a town of 10,100 roughly halfway between Glasgow and Stirling in North Lanarkshire, Scotland.-Location:...
. http://www.kilsyth.org.uk/landmarks.htm - The Psalmist (1974) in the JT Honeyman Memorial Garden of Kelvingrove ParkKelvingrove ParkKelvingrove Park is a public park located on the River Kelvin in the West End of the city of Glasgow, Scotland, containing the world-famous Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum.-History:...
, - the Joseph BlackJoseph BlackJoseph Black FRSE FRCPE FPSG was a Scottish physician and chemist, known for his discoveries of latent heat, specific heat, and carbon dioxide. He was professor of Medicine at University of Glasgow . James Watt, who was appointed as philosophical instrument maker at the same university...
Memorial (1953) at the University of GlasgowUniversity of GlasgowThe University of Glasgow is the fourth-oldest university in the English-speaking world and one of Scotland's four ancient universities. Located in Glasgow, the university was founded in 1451 and is presently one of seventeen British higher education institutions ranked amongst the top 100 of the...
, - the Painting and Sculpture reliefs on the Mercat Building (1928-9) and
- the Stations of the CrossStations of the CrossStations of the Cross refers to the depiction of the final hours of Jesus, and the devotion commemorating the Passion. The tradition as chapel devotion began with St...
sculptures in St. Charles' Parish ChurchGillespie, Kidd & CoiaGillespie, Kidd & Coia were a Scottish architectural firm famous for their application of modernism in churches and universities, as well as at St Peter's Seminary in Cardross. Though founded in 1927, it is for their work in the post-war period that they are best known...
North KelvinsideNorth KelvinsideNorth Kelvinside is a middle-class residential district of the Scottish city of Glasgow....
. - the Crucifix in St Columba's Church, Woodside, Glasgow
- Ex Terra in GlenrothesGlenrothesGlenrothes is a large town situated in the heart of Fife, in east-central Scotland. It is located approximately from both Edinburgh, which lies to the south and Dundee to the north. The town had an estimated population of 38,750 in 2008, making Glenrothes the third largest settlement in Fife...
town centre next to the bus station
The majority of these works were all in Glasgow and the surrounding area. He was responsible for the repair on the bridge sculpture at Kelvingrove Park beside the now refurbished art gallery and museum.
Although Benno Schotz is frequently referred to as an Estonian sculptor, all his professional life was in Scotland. He became a naturalized British subject in 1930.
He became a full member of the Royal Scottish Academy, 1937. He headed the Sculpture and Ceramics dept. of the Glasgow School of Art from 1938 until his retirement in 1960. His active life as a sculptor continued thereafter with renewed vigor and he created his most ambitious and monumental works over the next 20 years.
In 1963, he was appointed The Sculptor in Ordinary for Scotland, a member of the Royal household.
A major retrospective exhibition of his works (1971) was held at the Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh.
His interest in the drawing of trees developed, the drawings becoming more and more complex and abstract. He mounted a successful exhibition of Sculptures and Related Drawings in Glasgow (1961). His last sculpture was executed less than six weeks before his death, aged 93.
He was Life-President of the Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts.
Honors include: Freedom of the City of Glasgow; Honorary Fellow of The Hebrew University; Honorary LL.D, Strathclyde University; Honorary Member of the British Society of British Sculptors; Honorary Member of the Royal Institute of Architects in Scotland.
Source: his daughter, Mrs. S.C. Crome, and son, Mr. A. M Schotz.
Further reading
- Jonathan Blackwood, "Benno Schotz: Unknown Estonian Sculptor", kunst.ee. Autumn 2007, Tallinn
- Benno Schotz, Bronze In My Blood (Edinburgh: Gordon Wright, 1981)
- Hugh T. Stevenson, "Schotz, Benno (1891–1984)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 accessed 29 July 2007