Benno Schotz

Benno Schotz (28 August 1891 Arensburg – 11 October 1984 Glasgow) was an Estonian-born Scottish sculptor, and one of twentieth century Scotland's leading artists.

Schotz was the youngest of six children of Jewish parents, Jacob Schotz, a watchmaker, and Cherna Tischa Abramovitch. He was educated at the Boys Grammar School of Pärnu, Estonia. Later he studied 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 to 1923 he worked in the drawing office of John Brown and Company, a Clydebank shipbuilders, while attending evening classes in sculpture at the Glasgow School of Art.

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, 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, 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 and Josef Herman.

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