Gabriel Shamir (1909-1992) and Maxim Shamir (1910-1990) were

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

i graphic designers. They designed Israel's official state emblems, medals, stamps and currency notes.

Biography

Guttel (Gabriel) and Maxim Sheftelowitz (later Shamir) were born in Liepāja (Libau), Latvia. Both brothers studied graphics and design at the

Kunstgewerbeschule A Kunstgewerbeschule (English: ''School of Arts and Crafts'' or S''chool of Applied Arts'') was a type of vocational arts school that existed in German-speaking countries from the mid-19th century. The term Werkkunstschule was also used for thes ...

Berlin-Charlottenburg Charlottenburg () is a locality of Berlin within the borough of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf. Established as a town in 1705 and named after Sophia Charlotte of Hanover, Queen consort of Prussia, it is best known for Charlottenburg Palace, the l ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

— Gabriel in 1926-30 and Maxim in 1928-33.

Design career

Between 1930-1931 Gabriel worked for the Lintas advertising agency in Berlin and between 1931-1933 for Gumaelius in Stockholm. In 1934, they opened a graphic-design studio in Riga, Latvia, but the following year they

immigrated Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, and ...

to Palestine. The brothers arrived during the

Fifth Aliyah The Fifth Aliyah ( he, העלייה החמישית, ''HaAliyah HaHamishit'') refers to the fifth wave of the Jewish immigration to Palestine from Europe and Asia between the years 1929 and 1939, with the arrival of 225,000 to 300,000 Jews. The F ...

. They established the Shamir Brothers Studio on

Rothschild Boulevard Rothschild Boulevard (, ''Sderot Rotshild'') is one of the principal streets in the center of Tel Aviv, Israel, beginning in Neve Tzedek at its southwestern edge and running north to Habima Theatre. It is one of the most expensive streets in the ...

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the ...

and began to design posters. In 1935, the Shamirs co-founded the Society of Hebrew Graphic Artists in Eretz Israel. Coat of arms of Israel

Because there were few

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

typefaces at the time, the Shamirs improvised hand-painted

letters, often into transliterated words from European languages and English. Whereas Franz Kraus, the Austrian graphic designer who arrived in Eretz Israel a year before the Shamirs, adhered to a uniform type style, the brothers sought typography that they felt expressed the subject matter. The Shamir brothers, enthusiastic about the establishment of the Jewish state, undertook to formalize and actualize the visual symbols of Israeli sovereignty and independence. They designed the state's emblems, medals, stamps, and currency notes, including the 1949 Israeli State Coat of Arms (an image of a menorah and olive branches).What Are the Weird Scribbles on the State of Israel's Emblem?
Haaretz In addition, they advertised cigarettes and other consumer goods, as well as designed stamps for countries in

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

, and

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sout ...

. Their posters, other advertisements, and logos from 1935 to the close of their studio in 1974—rendered for the lottery, marketing fairs, land settlement, support of the army, food rationing, anti-black-market drives, and other nationalistic efforts—express a hyped Communist attitude, but not extreme or dour as in the propaganda of

Bolshevik The Bolsheviks (russian: Большевики́, from большинство́ ''bol'shinstvó'', 'majority'),; derived from ''bol'shinstvó'' (большинство́), "majority", literally meaning "one of the majority". also known in English ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

Exhibitions

Stamp of Israel - International Citrus Growers' Congress

* Commercial Art of Palestine 1936 –

Levant Fair The Levant Fair (Hebrew: יריד המזרח; Yarid HaMizrach) was an international trade fair held in Tel Aviv during the 1920s and 1930s. History Early years One of the early precursors to the Levant Fair, an exhibition titled the "Exhibiti ...

, Tel Aviv * Shamir Brothers 1940 - Studio Shamir, Tel Aviv, Curators: Gabriel and Maxim Shamir *To Live with the Dream 1989 – Museum Tel Aviv of Art, Curator: Batia Donner *Product of Palestine (1923-1948) 1997 – Israel Museum, Jerusalem, Curator: Matti Meir *Vision and Propaganda 1998 – Israel Museum, Jerusalem, Curator: Batia Donner *Hebrew Graphics-Shamir Brothers Studio 1999 - Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Curator: Batia Donner *Israeli Posters c.2000 – Zionist Central Archive, Jerusalem, Curator: Lifsha Ben-Shah *Landmarks-Posters from Zionism 2000 Collection 2008 - Zionism 2000, Beit Yehoshua, Curator: Inbal Amit *The Right to Scream – May 1 Posters 2003 – Farkash Gallery, Jaffa, Curator: Aharon Farkash *A Dialogue between Shamir Brother and Contemporary Artists 2004 – WIZO Design College, Haifa, Curators: Anat Gateniu and students *The New Hebrew -100 Years of Israeli Art, 2005 – Martin Gropius House, Berlin, Curators: Doreet LeVitte, Yigal Zalmona *The Histadrut – All the Way with the State of Israel 2006 –amalnet.k12.il, Curators: Alexandra Tomarinson, Matti Kanterovich *Bank Notes and Coins - permanent exhibit 2009 – Bank of Israel, Jerusalem, Curator: Dr. Rachel Barkai *Israel Art – permanent exhibit 2010 – Israel Museum, Jerusalem, Curators: Amitai Mendelshon, Yigal Zalmona *Hebrew Woman, Join the Army! 2010 – Eretz Israel Museum, Tel Aviv, Curator: Batia Donner *90 Years of Vision - Keren HaYesod Posters 2010 – Ben- Gurion Airport, Lod, Curator: David Tartakover *The Emblem of the State in Caricature 2011 – Israel Museum of Cartoons and Comics, Holon, Curators: Daniella Gardosh Santo, Yoram E. Shamir *60 Anniversary of Binyanei HaUma 2011 – International Convention Center, Jerusalem, Curator: Monica Lavi *JNF Posters - from the Beginning to the Present 2011 – eyarok.org.il, Curator: Meir Sadan *Independence in the art of the Shamir Brothers. This 2018 exhibition held in the Latvian National Library, Riga; the Great Amber Hall, Liepaja; the Rothko Art Center, Daugavpils, Curator: Yoram E. Shamir *Absorption in Israel - The story of the absorption of Iraqi Jews in Israel at th
Babylonian Jewry Museum
The exhibition includes a number of packagings designed by Shamir Brothers. Curator: Orly Bahar Levy.

Published works

* Shamir, Maxim and Gabriel (1969). ''The Story of Israel in Stamps'', New York: Sabra Books; Funk & Wagnalls. * Shamir, Maxim and Gabriel (1969 and 1972). ''Die Geschichte Israels in Briefmarken'', New York: Sabra Books; Tel Aviv: Hakesher. * Exhibition catalog, Donner, Batia, ''et al.'' (1999). ''Shamir: Hebrew Graphics, Shamir Brothers Studio'', Tel Aviv: Tel Aviv Museum of Art.

References

External links