Jan Sobota

Jan Bohuslav Sobota (c. 1939–2012) was a Czechoslovakian-born fine bookbinder. He is known for his often playful sculptural bindings that transform the book into a three-dimensional work of art. He is known for books of all sizes, including a significant output of miniature books. The son of a book collector,[1] Sobota trained in Czechoslovakia as an apprentice in the Plzeň workshop of Karel Silinger and graduated from the Academy of Applied Arts, Prague, in 1957.[2] He completed his Master's Degree at the same institution in 1969, and in 1979, was declared "Meister der Einbandkunst" in Germany.[1] The same year, he submitted the first ever sculptural book to the Czeck triennale.[2] Sobota organized the first international exhibition of book sculpture in 1982, "The Book as Artistic Object in an Interior," staged in Frantiskovy Lazne.[2]

In 1982, Sobota and his family defected to Switzerland. Members of the international book community sought to assist him,[3] and the Rowfant Club of Cleveland, a book-collecting organization, sponsored his family's move in 1984 to the United States, where he remained until 1997.[4] Extensive Czech training in book conservation prepared him for positions as a book conservator at Case Western Reserve University and at the Bridwell Library at Southern Methodist University.[5] With his wife Jarmila Sobota he established the Saturday's Book Arts Gallery, which moved with the couple.[5] In 1997, the Sobotas moved back to the now Czech Republic, where they opened a gallery in Loket.

Between 1969 and 2012, Sobota's work was displayed in thirty-five individual shows and 160 group exhibitions.[4] He was posthumously awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Guild of Bookworkers in 2012.[1]

Citations
  1. Hanka, Ladislav (2012). "Remembering Jan Bohuslav Sobota: Stories, Speculations, Pronouncements, Acknowledgements & Thoughts on a Life in the Book arts". Retrieved 16 April 2018.
  2. Rezny, Pavel (1988). Jan Sobota: Design Binding. Translated by Hanka, Ladislav. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art. pp. [2].
  3. Philip, Smith (March 1983). "The Jan Sobota Appeal". cool.conservation-us.org. Retrieved 2018-04-16.
  4. "Jan Sobota – SMU". www.smu.edu. Retrieved 2018-04-16.
  5. "Obituary: Jan Sobota, book conservator and fine binder". NOBS. 2012-05-11. Retrieved 2018-04-16.
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