Born: 1934 Vienna, Austria
Died: 2020 London, England
Year of Migration to the UK: 1959
Biography
Graphic designer and cartographer Shalom Schotten was born into an Orthodox Jewish family in Vienna, Austria, in 1934. His mother was Malca Schotten (née Fischer), and his father, Yehuda Schotten, led a Jewish community in Mattersburg before becoming a cleaner of feather beds. Schotten also initially followed a yeshiva (Jewish religious) education. After the rise of Nazism in Germany and the Anschluss, when it became too dangerous to remain in Austria in 1938, Shalom and his siblings were sent to their grandparents in Guta, Czechoslovakia. Meanwhile, their parents left for Chelles, France. In February 1939, Shalom and his sister, Alisa, were brought to France by a family friend, Marguerite Kohn. Tragically, three of his other siblings were murdered in Auschwitz. In 1951, the entire remaining family relocated to Tel Aviv, Israel. Schotten initially found work as a sign painter and later advanced to a position with a graphic designer, Shmuel Grundman, who had previously collaborated on the Festival of Britain designs in 1951 (The Guardian, October 2020), alongside other Jewish emigre designers such as F.H.K. Henrion.
In 1959, Schotten immigrated to London to further his career as a graphic designer and took up studies at the London College of Printing (now London College of Communication, University of the Arts London). There, he met other Austrian émigrés, such as the Bauhaus-trained, George Adams, who was born: Georg Teltscher in Vienna. At the time, Adams was also working as a dust jacket designer for Thames & Hudson (founded in 1949 by Austrian emigres Walter and Eva Neurath. who fled the Nazi regime to London), a position Schotten took in 1960, and where he remained for over 50 years. At the time of his employment, the Foreign Office insisted the publisher justified why they did not take on a British designer.
Schotten was trained in traditional book design, but quickly adapted to new computer-based technologies. He designed numerous book covers in a way that balanced the desires of the authors with the marketing needs of book publishing. In 1975, together with John Woodcock, Schotten drew 103 maps for the publication Archaeological Atlas of the World by David and Ruth Whitehouse, which was awarded the Silver Eagle at the Nice International Festival of the Book. Schotten was known for having a keen eye for map arrangement, a skill he developed during his service in the Israeli army in the 1950s. In 1980, Schotten designed The Thames and Hudson Manual of Typography by Ruari McLean. The publication investigated the impact of filmsetting, hot metal typesetting, and computers on type composition and their influence on book design. As a book designer, Schotten worked with renowned artists such as David Bailey, David Hockney, and Lucian Freud. For Hockney, he designed the cover of his book David Hockney: My Early Years (1988). The cover features bold typography and a prominent image of Hockney dressed in a blue and white striped shirt, a distinctive signifier of his well-known personal style. The background includes a portrait of the artist within the frame, creating a layered visual narrative that reflects on his self-identity and artistic journey. Other notable publications include The world of Islam: Faith, People, Culture (1997) and The Jewish World: Revelation, Prophecy and History (2003), with later volumes, such as: The Great Builders (2011) by Kenneth Powell, and Nineteenth Century Art: A Critical History (2011) by Stephen F. Eisenman. From 2000 until his death in 2020, Schotten also ran his own small design company, Ranulf Road Limited.
Schotten was known as a kind, patient and gentle co-worker, a heavy smoker, and an avid listener to French radio stations, and as one who abandoned his Jewish faith. In 1961, Shalom wed Petra Buchholz, a German nurse-in-training at Great Ormond Street Hospital in London. They had three children: Malca, Hanna, and Jo, and settled in High Barnet, north London, until their divorce in 1984. In 1987, he married the Jewish librarian Patricia Harris, and the union also prompted him to re-embrace his Jewish faith. Shalom Schotten died on 1 September 2020 in London, England. While his sketches and preparations are not part of any public collection, books with his designs can be found across libraries in the UK.
Related books
- Monica Bohm-Duchen, ed., Insiders Outsiders: Refugees from Nazi Europe and Their Contribution to British Visual Culture (London: Lund Humphries, 2019)
- Anna Nyburg, Émigrés: The Transformation of Art Publishing in Britain (London: Phaidon Press, 2014)
- Kenneth Powell (with design Shalom Schotten), The Great Builders (London: Thames & Hudson, 2011)
- Stephen F. Eisenman (with design Shalom Schotten), Nineteenth Century Art: A Critical History (London: Thames & Hudson, 2011)
- Elie Kedourie (with maps by Shalom Schotten), The Jewish World: Revelation, Prophecy and History (London: Thames & Hudson, 2003)
- David M. Wilson, ed. (with design by Shalom Schotten), The Northern World: the History and Heritage of Northern Europe, ad 400-1100 (London: Thames and Hudson, 2003)
- Brian de Breffny, ed. (with design by Shalom Schotten), The Irish World: the History and Cultural Achievements of the Irish People (London: Thames and Hudson, 2000)
- Bernard Lewis (with maps by Shalom Schotten), The world of Islam: Faith, People, Culture (London: Thames and Hudson, 1997)
- Ruari McLean (with design by Shalom Schotten), The Thames and Hudson Manual of Typography (London: Thames and Hudson, 1980)
- David and Ruth Whitehouse (with design by John Woodcock and Shalom Schotten), Archaeological Atlas of the World (London: Thames and Hudson, 1975)
Related organisations
- London College of Printing, London (student )
- Thames & Hudson (book designer )
Related web links
Ben Uri archive
Consult items in the Ben Uri archive related to [Shalom Schotten ]
Ben Uri library
Publications related to [Shalom Schotten ] in the Ben Uri Library