George Him (4 August 1900 – 4 April 1982) was a Polish born British designer responsible for a number of notable posters, book illustrations and advertising campaigns for a wide range of clients.

Biography

Him was born Jerzy Himmelfarb in 1900 to a Polish-Jewish family in Lodz, Poland which was then occupied by the

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. ...

After schooling and further education in

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

Him studied Roman Law in Moscow but left in 1917 when the Russian Revolution forced the closure of the university he was attending. He moved to

Bonn The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ru ...

and by 1924 had completed a PhD at the

University of Bonn The Rhenish Friedrich Wilhelm University of Bonn (german: Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn) is a public research university located in Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was founded in its present form as the ( en, Rhine ...

on the comparative history of religions before deciding to study graphic art in

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as ...

. Him studied at the Leipzig Academy of Graphic Art but even before he graduated in 1928 was already undertaking commercial commissions. Him returned to Poland where, in 1933, he changed his name and also established a design partnership with Jan Le Witt. Working as Lewitt-Him, the two established a distinctive design style which combined cubist and surrealist elements, often in a humorous context. Their most notable work in Poland were illustrations for an experimental poetry group known as ''Skamander''. Think Ahead Art

Him and Le Witt worked together in Poland for several years before, in 1937, they relocated the Lewitt-Him design business to London, following an exhibition of their work there by the publishers Lund Humphries. The pair quickly gained commercial contracts with London Transport and

Imperial Airways Imperial Airways was the early British commercial long-range airline, operating from 1924 to 1939 and principally serving the British Empire routes to South Africa, India, Australia and the Far East, including Malaya and Hong Kong. Passengers ...

as well as illustrating children's books, such as ''The Little Red Engine Gets a Name'' (1942) by Diana Ross. In London during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

the partnership received notable commissions for information and public safety posters from, among others, the General Post Office, the

Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) is a British charity that aims to save lives and prevent life-changing injuries which occur as a result of accidents. In the past, it has successfully campaigned on issues of road safet ...

and the Ministry of Information. Him was naturalised as a British citizen in 1948 and the Lewitt-Him partnership enjoyed great success. Notable commissions included designing the giant umbrella tree for the Wet Weather section of the 1946 ''Britain Can Make It'' exhibition, the Guinness clock tower for

Battersea Park Battersea Park is a 200-acre (83-hectare) green space at Battersea in the London Borough of Wandsworth in London. It is situated on the south bank of the River Thames opposite Chelsea and was opened in 1858. The park occupies marshland recla ...

Pleasure Gardens and murals for the Education Pavilion of the 1951

Festival of Britain The Festival of Britain was a national exhibition and fair that reached millions of visitors throughout the United Kingdom in the summer of 1951. Historian Kenneth O. Morgan says the Festival was a "triumphant success" during which people: ...

. The Lewitt-Him partnership was dissolved in 1954, when Le Witt decided to focus on developing his abstract paintings and artworks. Him continued to work as a commercial designer. Among the advertising campaigns he illustrated was the 1950s ''Schweppeshire'' campaign for the

Schweppes Schweppes (, ) is a beverage brand that originated in the Republic of Geneva; it is made, bottled and distributed worldwide by multiple international conglomerates, depending on licensing and region, that manufacture and sell soft drinks. Schw ...

drinks company. Him's other clients numbered several airlines, including Pan-American Airways,

El Al El Al Israel Airlines Ltd. (, he, אל על נתיבי אויר לישראל בע״מ), trading as El Al (Hebrew: , "Upwards", "To the Skies" or "Skywards", stylized as ELAL; ar, إل-عال), is the flag carrier of Israel. Since its inaugura ...

and American Overseas Airlines plus the publishers of ''

Punch Punch commonly refers to: * Punch (combat), a strike made using the hand closed into a fist * Punch (drink), a wide assortment of drinks, non-alcoholic or alcoholic, generally containing fruit or fruit juice Punch may also refer to: Places * Pun ...

'' and

Penguin Books Penguin Books is a British publishing house. It was co-founded in 1935 by Allen Lane with his brothers Richard and John, as a line of the publishers The Bodley Head, only becoming a separate company the following year.Ideal Home Exhibition The Ideal Home Show (formerly called the Ideal Home Exhibition) is an annual event in London, England, held at Olympia . The show was devised by the '' Daily Mail'' newspaper in 1908 and continued to be run by the ''Daily Mail'' until 2009. It ...

and large window displays, notably for the

De Bijenkorf De Bijenkorf (; literally, "the beehive") is a chain of high-end department stores in the Netherlands, with its flagship store on Dam Square in Amsterdam. The chain is owned by Selfridges Group, which also owns Britain's Selfridges and Ireland's ...

store in

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"Ne ...

and the 1961 Christmas windows for the Design Centre in London. From 1969 until 1977, Him taught graphic design at Leicester Polytechnic. Him was an active artist up until the very end of his life. Two retrospective exhibitions of his work have been held, one in 1976 at the

London College of Printing The London College of Communication is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London. It specialises in media-related subjects including advertising, animation, film, graphic design, photography and sound arts. It has approximately ...

and another in 1978 at the

Ben Uri Gallery The Ben Uri Gallery & Museum is a registered museum and charity based at 108a Boundary Road, off Abbey Road in St John's Wood, London, England. It features the work and lives of émigré artists in London, and describes itself as "The Art Museum ...

in London. An exhibition is currently on at the House of Illustration, London, until 10 May 2020. In 1977 Him was awarded the Francis Williams Book Illustration Award and in 1978 became a

Royal Designer for Industry Royal Designer for Industry is a distinction established by the British Royal Society of Arts (RSA) in 1936, to encourage a high standard of industrial design and enhance the status of designers. It is awarded to people who have achieved "sustaine ...

References

External links

Works by Lewitt-Him
in the Imperial War Museum collection
Poster designs by LeWitt-Him
in the London Transport Museum collection
George Him: A Polish Designer for Mid-Century Britain
at the House of Illustration {{DEFAULTSORT:Him, George 1900 births 1982 deaths Academics of De Montfort University Polish graphic designers Jewish artists Artists from Łódź Polish emigrants to the United Kingdom Naturalised citizens of the United Kingdom Polish illustrators Polish poster artists University of Bonn alumni