Benno Schotz (28 August 1891
Arensburg,
Livonia
Livonia ( liv, Līvõmō, et, Liivimaa, fi, Liivinmaa, German and Scandinavian languages: ', archaic German: ''Liefland'', nl, Lijfland, Latvian and lt, Livonija, pl, Inflanty, archaic English: ''Livland'', ''Liwlandia''; russian: Ли ...
,
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...
– 11 October 1984
Glasgow, Scotland
Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...
) was an Estonian-born Scottish sculptor, and one of twentieth century Scotland's leading artists.
Biography
Early life
Schotz was the youngest of six children of
Jew
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""Th ...
ish parents, Jacob Schotz, a watchmaker, and Cherna Tischa Abramovitch. He was educated at the Boys Grammar School of
Pärnu
Pärnu () is the fourth largest city in Estonia. Situated in southwest Estonia, Pärnu is located south of the Estonian capital, Tallinn, and west of Estonia's second largest city, Tartu. The city sits off the coast of Pärnu Bay, an inlet o ...
,
Estonia
Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...
. Later he studied at the
Grossherzogliche Technische Hochschule in
Darmstadt
Darmstadt () is a city in the States of Germany, state of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Frankfurt Rhine Main Area, Rhine-Main-Area (Frankfurt Metropolitan Region). Darmstadt has around 160,000 inhabitants, making it th ...
, Germany.
In 1912, he immigrated to Glasgow, where he gained an engineering diploma from the
Royal Technical College
The Royal College of Science and Technology was a higher education college that existed in Glasgow, Scotland between 1887 and 1964, and is the predecessor institution of the University of Strathclyde. Its main building on George Street now serve ...
. From 1914 to 1923 he worked in the drawing office of
John Brown and Company
John Brown and Company of Clydebank was a Scottish marine engineering and shipbuilding firm. It built many notable and world-famous ships including , , , , , and the ''Queen Elizabeth 2''.
At its height, from 1900 to the 1950s, it was one of ...
, a
Clydebank
Clydebank ( gd, Bruach Chluaidh) is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland. Situated on the north bank of the River Clyde, it borders the village of Old Kilpatrick (with Bowling, West Dunbartonshire, Bowling and Milton, West Dunbartonshire, Mil ...
shipbuilder
Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and other 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 befor ...
s, while attending evening classes in sculpture at the
Glasgow School of Art
The Glasgow School of Art (GSA; gd, Sgoil-ealain Ghlaschu) is a higher education art school based in Glasgow, Scotland, offering undergraduate degrees, post-graduate awards (both taught and research-led), and PhDs in architecture, fine art, and ...
.
Artistic career
Schotz became a full-time sculptor in 1923. An important early patron was the Dundee art collector William Boyd, thanks to whose influence both Dundee Dental School and Dundee Art Galleries & Museums hold pieces by him.
From this point onwards his reputation grew and he became a full member of the
Royal Scottish Academy
The Royal Scottish Academy (RSA) is the country’s national academy of art. It promotes contemporary Scottish art.
The Academy was founded in 1826 by eleven artists meeting in Edinburgh. Originally named the Scottish Academy, it became the ...
, 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
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 ...
in 1963. His pupils included the artists
Hannah Frank
Hannah Frank (23 August 1908 – 18 December 2008) was an artist and sculptor from Glasgow, Scotland. She was known for her art nouveau monochrome drawings until she decided to concentrate on sculpture in 1952.
Background and education
Frank's ...
, Stewart Bowman Johnson, 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
Jankel Adler (born Jankiel Jakub Adler; 26 July 1895 – 25 April 1949) was a Polish Jewish painter and printmaker.
Biography
Jankiel Jakub Adler was born as the seventh of ten children in Tuszyn, a suburb of Łódź. In 1912 he began training ...
and
Josef Herman
Josef Herman (3 January 1911 – 19 February 2000), was a highly regarded Polish-British painter who influenced contemporary art, particularly in the United Kingdom. He was part of a generation of central and eastern European Jewish refuge ...
.
He was a committed
Zionist
Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת ''Tsiyyonut'' after ''Zion'') is a nationalist movement that espouses the establishment of, and support for a homeland for the Jewish people centered in the area roughly corresponding to what is known in Je ...
, and also proud of his adopted
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
. He worked until a few weeks before his death at the age of 93. He was buried in
Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
.
He was made a Freeman of the City of Glasgow in 1981. In that same year, Gordon Wright 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 Maxton
James Maxton (22 June 1885 – 23 July 1946) was a British left-wing politician, and leader of the Independent Labour Party. He was a pacifist who opposed both world wars. A prominent proponent of Home Rule for Scotland, he is remembered as on ...
is on public display at the Maxton remembrance garden in
Barrhead
Barrhead ( sco, Baurheid, gd, Ceann a' Bharra) is a town in East Renfrewshire, Scotland, southwest of Glasgow city centre on the edge of the Gleniffer Braes. At the 2011 census its population was 17,268.
History
Barrhead was formed when ...
near
Paisley. Other publicly accessible work includes:
* ''Memorial to Provost
John Jarvie of
Kilsyth'', 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,
Kilsyth.
* ''The Psalmist'' (1974) in the
T J Honeyman Memorial Garden of
Kelvingrove Park
Kelvingrove Park is a public park located on the River Kelvin in the West End of the city of Glasgow, Scotland, containing the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum.
History
Kelvingrove Park was originally created as the West End Park in 1852, and ...
,
* the ''
Joseph Black
Joseph Black (16 April 1728 – 6 December 1799) was a Scottish physicist and chemist, known for his discoveries of magnesium, latent heat, specific heat, and carbon dioxide. He was Professor of Anatomy and Chemistry at the University of Glas ...
Memorial'' (1953) at the
University of Glasgow
, image = UofG Coat of Arms.png
, image_size = 150px
, caption = Coat of arms
Flag
, latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis
, motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita
, ...
,
* the statues of Saints Margaret and Ninian on the front of the 1929-31 (former) Bank of Scotland building on Sauchiehall St,
* the ''Painting'' and ''Sculpture'' reliefs on the
Mercat Building (1928–29) and
* the
Stations of the Cross
The Stations of the Cross or the Way of the Cross, also known as the Way of Sorrows or the Via Crucis, refers to a series of images depicting Jesus Christ on the day of Crucifixion of Jesus, his crucifixion and accompanying prayers. The station ...
sculptures in
St. Charles' Parish Church North Kelvinside
North Kelvinside (also referred to as North Kelvin, gd, Cealbhainn a Tuath) is a residential district of the Scottish city of Glasgow.
It is usually regarded as a subdistrict of Maryhill, sharing its G20 postcode, as well as its House of Commo ...
.
* the Crucifix in
St Columba's Church, Woodside, Glasgow
* ''Ex Terra'' in
Glenrothes
Glenrothes (; , ; sco, Glenrothes; gd, Gleann Rathais) is a town situated in the heart of Fife, in east-central Scotland. It is about north of Edinburgh and south of Dundee. The town had a population of 39,277 in the 2011 census, making i ...
town centre next to the bus station
*bust of
James Pittendrigh Macgillivray
James Pittendrigh MacGillivray (1856 – 29 April 1938) was a Scottish sculptor. He was also a keen artist, musician and poet. He was born in Inverurie, Aberdeenshire, the son of a sculptor, and studied under William Brodie and John Mossman ...
,
Scottish National Portrait Gallery
The Scottish National Portrait Gallery is an art museum on Queen Street, Edinburgh. The gallery holds the national collections of portraits, all of which are of, but not necessarily by, Scots. It also holds the Scottish National Photography Co ...
(1924)
* busts of William Boyd, Mrs William Rettie and William Tattersall in Dundee Dental Hospital & School, University of Dundee
* a bust of William Boyd's daughter Joan at The McManus: Dundee's Art Gallery & Museum
* bust of
Keir Hardie
James Keir Hardie (15 August 185626 September 1915) was a Scottish trade unionist and politician. He was a founder of the Labour Party, and served as its first parliamentary leader from 1906 to 1908.
Hardie was born in Newhouse, Lanarkshire. ...
,
People's Palace, Glasgow
The People's Palace and Winter Gardens in Glasgow, Scotland, is a museum and glasshouse situated in Glasgow Green, and was opened on 22 January 1898 by The 5th Earl of Rosebery.
Early history
The idea of "palaces for the people" drew on the wr ...
* eleven foot high sculpture 'The Window on the World', Vale of Leven Academy Alexandria.
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 naturalised 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.
Books
Schotz wrote at least one book: "Bronze is in my Blood",
a memoir of his life.
References
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, 200
accessed 29 July 2007
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schotz, Benno
1891 births
1984 deaths
People from Kuressaare
People from the Governorate of Livonia
Estonian Jews
Emigrants from the Russian Empire to the United Kingdom
Estonian engineers
20th-century Estonian sculptors
20th-century Scottish engineers
Scottish scholars and academics
Scottish sculptors
Scottish male sculptors
Artists from Glasgow
Jewish artists
Royal Scottish Academicians
20th-century British sculptors
Estonian emigrants to Scotland
Academics of the Glasgow School of Art
Alumni of the Royal College of Science and Technology