Portrait and figure sculptor. Benno Schotz was the son of a watchmaker, born on 28th August 1891 in Arensburg, on the Gulf of Riga, Estonia. Arensburg was its German/Swedish name; it became Kuressaare in 1918, after the Great War. In Soviet times it was known as Kingissepp, but with independence has reverted to Kuressaare. In 1911, he travelled to Darmstadt, Germany to study engineering, but in 1912, less than two years before World War broke out in 1914, moved to Scotland to study at the Glasgow Royal Technical College. He then got a job as a draughtsman with the Clyde shipbuilders, John Brown, at a time of great activity with the huge expansion of the Royal Navy.
A visit to the exhibition in London, in 1915, of the Serbian sculptor Ivan Mestrovic (a pupil of Rodin), decided him to become a sculptor. His career blossomed rapidly and his first exhibition was at the (Royal) Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts in 1917. Only three years later, in 1920, he was elected President of the Society of Painters and Sculptors, Glasgow. By 1923, he had become a full time sculptor and Schotz had his first one man show at Alex Reid & Lefevre’s in Glasgow in 1926, followed by a show at their London gallery in 1930. He supplemented his income from sculpture by teaching and in 1938 became Head of Sculpture and Ceramics at Glasgow School of Art. Among his pupils was the Glasgow sculptress, Hannah Frank (b.1908). Schotz was elected ARSA in 1934 and was raised to full Academician in 1938. In 1963, he was appointed Her Majesty’s Sculptor-in-Ordinary for Scotland. In 1981 he published his autobiography, “Bronze in my Blood – The Memoirs of Benno Schotz” (G. Wright, Edinburgh), detailing his struggles and adventures as a young artist and the huge array of friends and clients drawn from all walks of life.
His earlier work, of which the Goddess Niobe is an example (1923), had been inspired by Rodin and Mestrovic, whereas his later work owed more to Epstein. He produced some religious sculpture, both Jewish and Christian, as well as some semi-abstract work. His wood carvings of the 1940’s demonstrate a close affinity with modernism. His bust of James Maxton, the “Red Clydesider” adorns the Maxton remembrance garden in Barrhead, Paisley; other public works in Glasgow include “The Psalmist” (1974) in the J.T. Honeyman Memorial Garden in Kelvingrove Park, the “Joseph Black Memorial” (1953) at Glasgow University, the “Painting” & “Sculpture” reliefs (1928) on the Mercat Building as well as the Stations of The Cross sculptures in St Charles’ Parish Church, North Kelvinside. Schotz was also responsible for the repairs on the bridge sculpture at Kelvingrove Park, beside the now refurbished Art Gallery & Museum.
Schotz retired from teaching in 1961, on reaching 70. A proud Glaswegian, he lived in Glasgow for most of his life, and as a committed Zionist played an active role in the Jewish life of the city. His home was in the West End, at Kirklee and in his favourite black beret, the genial Schotz was a popular and familiar figure of a weekend to the shoppers in the Byres Road.
Major exhibitions of his work were mounted by the Scottish Arts Council in 1962, the Royal Scottish Academy in 1971 and at Kelvingrove Art Gallery, Glasgow in 1978. Schotz exhibited extensively throughout his career, including the RSA (56 works), Royal Academy (13), Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts (100+) and the Aberdeen Art Society (9). He is represented in the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, RSA, Aberdeen Art Gallery, Dundee Art Gallery, Kelvingrove Art Gallery, Glasgow, Paisley Art Gallery, Perth Art Gallery, Edinburgh City Art Centre, Stoke on Trent Art Gallery, Jerusalem Art Gallery, Tel Aviv Art Gallery and the House of Commons.
He worked until a few weeks before his death in Glasgow, aged 93, on 11th October 1984. Benno Schotz was buried in Jerusalem.
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